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THE 


11)th £e^tuf(y You^q^JVIan. 



#crics of 


1‘cctnrcs. 


BY THE 

REV. WILLIAM H. MYERS, 

Pastor of Grace Lutheran Church , Reading, Pa . — Writer of 
“ At Leisure Papers .” 



I > o 
3 


PHILADELPHIA : 

THE LUTHERAN BOOK STORE, 

No. 117 North Sixth Street. 

1890. 


V. 


4- ft Q. 

533 

\ 


Copyrighted , i8go , by G. W. Frederick. 


f> C 


TO THE 


jCjMIQHTp OF THE '¥/A R TBUF(q, 

The Young Men’s Society 
OF 

GRACE LUTHERAN CHURCH, READING, PA. 

This Book is Affectionately 

jlcbicafeb 

By the Author. 








































Contents. 


CHAPTER. 

I. The 19TH Century Young Man, - 

II. The Rich Young Man, 

III. The Fast Young Man, 

IV. The Young Man Gone to the Dogs, 

V. The Young Man of Destiny, 

VI. The Young Man of Office, 

VII. The Young Man of Business, 

VIII. The Young Man as a Friend, 

IX. The Young Man of Sunshine, - 

X. The Young Professional Man, 

XI. The Young Man at His Trade, 

XII. The Manly Young Man, 


PAGE. 

9 

17 

30 

44 

57 

69 

81 

95 

108 

122 

i37 

151 




















































Ijc 19tlj ©tnturg bomtg Man 


<S|P 


“ There are certain great focal points of history toward which 
the lines of past progress have converged, and from which have 
radiated the molding influence of the future. Such are the clo- 
sing years of the nineteenth century — Strong. 

“ The age and the hour want everything that God included 
in a man.” — Anony?nous. 

'TMHE 19th Century Young Man ! 

% This is the title I have given to my little book. 
It contains a series of lectures delivered in my church 
at the evening service, and the throngs of young men 
that crowded to hear them, gave me the encourage- 
ment that they might be of interest to a larger audi- 
ence. They are portraits from the old-time Bible-gal- 
lery, only put into modern frames. 

The 19th century young man is nothing so unique 
that he does not have something in common with the 
youths of former ages. But whilst the strength and 
weakness of character are much the same the ages 

( 9 ) 


io The igth Century Young Man. 

through, there never yet was a time for the develop- 
ment of extraordinary young men like the present. 

Lycurgus, by the vigor of his unwritten laws, aimed 
to give Sparta a hearty race of men. He took the 
youths from their homes, and made them the property 
of the State. Under its eye, the young men were 
tempered in schools, like the steel in fire — and the 
name Sparta became the synonym of Heroism. But 
America, in the closing period of the nineteenth cen- 
tury, has become the radiating centre of the world’s 
progress. It is an open school for all young men to 
reach the higher learning, and is a vast theatre of ac- 
tion in which, every aspirant can distinguish himself 
by manly achievements. The course of Empire goes 
no further, for there are no more New Worlds. Like a 
flood where it is banked, rises the highest, then recedes 
— so the progress of history will rise to its highest 
mark in America, then rebound from its western limit, 
to bless anew the East with a higher civilization. 
That young man may call himself fortunate, whose 
natal-day has dawned upon the closing period of this 
nineteenth century. 

The hour in which we live, and the man for it — is 
the searching question for the rising youth. It is not 
all to express admiration for the splendor of our coun- 
try — mighty perils threaten its future, and we need to 


The igth Century Young Man. n 

have the men equipped to meet them. Unrestricted 
immigration will have brought 20,000,000 souls to 
our shores in the year 1900. From this source come 
the greater portion of our criminals, and here origi- 
nate the moral diseases that spread contagion over our 
native population. Romanism is not in harmony 
with the fundamental principles of our government — 
liberty of conscience, free speech, free press, and free 
schools. The Romanist enters politics as a Romanist, 
and not as an American. The Pope says — “ America 
is the hope of Rome.” In 1800 about 100,000 strong, 
in 1884 nearly 7,000,000 strong — what has this to say 
for American liberties ? Socialism is a formidable foe. 
In its worst form it strikes at private property, all es- 
tablished authority, the right of the State, the sanc- 
tity of the family, and the altar of religion. That ec- 
clesiastical despotism — Mormonism — still stands, not- 
withstanding all the legislation against the presump- 
tion of its temporal kingdom. These perils, together 
with those subtle and insinuating evils that rise from 
the lap of wealth and luxury, the corrupt influence of 
politics, the refined vices of society, and the under- 
life forces of the great city, demand sterling young 
men for the closing period of the nineteenth century. 

Where shall we look for the man suited to the hour ? 
We must find him in the youth, who is at building 


12 The igth Century Young Man. 

character for the generation at our door. We insist 
that he be reared to citizenship under the moulding 
influence of the Christian religion. Those principles 
of the Bible, which our forefathers have woven into 
the Magna Charta of our Republic, as the warp and 
woof of national strength, shall also be the binding in- 
fluence of character in every coming citizen. We 
look for him in the home of religious refinement. It 
is Mother who rocks the cradle of nations, and it is 
Home that builds the bulwarks of national security and 
greatness. We welcome the young man with his 
sheepskin, and build largely of our hopes upon his 
university-scholarship — but it is the man we want, 
more than the astute philosopher. We hail the in- 
dustrious boy — for w r e know how much of personal 
character, and national prosperity, and political integ- 
rity, and social purity, lies in the ranks of young men 
who are employed in trades, and whose skill is the 
Midas-touch of every material development. 

Those young Israelites of ancient times - Moses and 
Solomon and Samuel — were favored sons. The star of 
Heaven seemed to rest upon them even in the cradle, 
and the world could see that God had put a special 
mark upon them. But others, such as Abimelech, 
had no clear passport to greatness — they had to fight 
their way up. How many boys, like this Gideon’s son, 


The 19th Century Young Man. 13 

have drawbacks to overcome ! For an evil, that they 
could not help, they may have become the social out- 
casts, only to be reclaimed again upon their merit, to 
figure as generals and leaders of the land. How many 
boys are born with a “ golden spoon in their mouth !” 
— but the morsel of true fame is mostly dipped with 
the leaden spoon of poverty. 

The aristocratic young man ! The term is received 
with almost universal disfavor in our democratic land. 
All affectation of high-birth, and plumed pretense of 
nobility, are importations received with contempt at 
our ports — here all true men are kings, and all good 
women are queens. Wealth and birth are favorable 
circumstances, and the young man who engirdles them 
with the elements of an active and honest manhood, 
is bound to be a mighty pillar in the land. But if 
they miscarry with him, and breed the youth of strut- 
ting mien, and aristocratic airs, our civil institutions, 
and our age have no honors to find in him. 

You have heard of that strange anomaly of modern 
productions, called — the dude. Darwin’s idea of the 
“lost link,” might seem a little plausible when you 
look upon him. He is a strange freak of nature. 
That brains should be so sapped of well-poised strength 
is a misfortune ! That American manhood should be 
so caricatured is a disgrace. But even a coxcomb 


14 The 19th Century Young Man. 

may have his uses. Beau Brummel demonstrated that 
so-called “society” needs a fool to lead it. Known 
to London as the greatest fop living, he became the 
favorite and companion even of the Prince of Wales, 
afterwards George IV. He rode with the nobility, 
and was the acknowledged leader of the haut ton — the 
real oracle in matters of dress, fashion, and etiquette. 
He was this — and the eighteenth century fop-doodle. 
New York has its Beau Brummel. This class of young 
men is no part of American greatness. It is neither 
granite in the base, nor lily-work in the top — it is the 
effervescing flavor of nothing. 

Perhaps it is not too strongly stated — that this is 
the age of irreverence. Ancient Israel, and all of 
the great Orient, had deep reverence for the old es- 
tablished things — and the young men bowed with re- 
spect before the aged. The swaggering boldness of 
many of our boys, is making this age one of indepen- 
dent recklessness. The country can expect nothing 
of those youths who disdain to obey the Scriptural in- 
junction — “ rise up before the hoary head.” 

There is a marching troop of young men, emerging 
from our great cities, filling every steam-car, and 
floating-boat, and scattering throughout all the towns 
and cross-roads of the land. They are commonly 
styled — the “drummers.” What an influence they 


The igth Century Young Man. 15 

carry with them ! With what discipline of self-con- 
trol, suavity of manners, and polite persistency of 
argument, they ply their trade ! They are the winged 
messengers of the great commercial centers — and are 
the exponents of commercial alertness and integrity. 
God save the man in the commercial traveller ! Give 
him strength of honor, and sobriety of character. 
May the love of home, keep him within the bounds of 
safe and virtuous wanderings, and may the influence of 
his sunny character be as wholesome for his country, 
as the tact of his bright intelligence is useful for his 
trade. 

Our schools and universities mass a mighty army 
of young men. May Heaven favor us in the perpe- 
tuity of our free and popular institutions ! — in the in- 
telligence of the masses lies the security of our nation. 
We laud the intellect of the country, for by it the 
surging phalanx of humanity shall be marshalled into 
order, inspired into a sympathy of common interest, 
made to move in the graces of refinement, reflecting 
a lofty character of national-being to all the worlds 
and ages. Young man, I am with you under the glow 
of the student-lamp. Lay up your store of useful 
knowledge, be equipped with virtue’s principles — the 
nineteenth century has use for the scholar. Some 
time again, we will gather home to the hall of learn- 


1 6 


The igth Century Young Man. 


ing, and under the shadow of our old professor's chair, 
we will muse in the words of Holmes — 

“ Yes, we’re boys, — always playing with tongue or with pen; 
And I sometimes have asked, Shall we ever be men ? 

Shall we always be youthful, and laughing, and gay, 

Till the last dear companion drops smiling away ?” 

“ Then here’s to our boyhood, its 'gold and its gray ! 

The stars of its winter, the dews of its May ! 

And when we have done with our life-lasting toys, 

Dear Father, take care of thy children, The Boys !” 




JESUS' said unto him, if thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that 
thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in 
heaven, and come and follow me. But when the young man 
heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great pos- 
sessions. — Matt, ig : 21 , 22. 

f HREE golden realms, young man ! 

Measure your steps — they lie only in one direc- 
tion. If you enter by their portals, your life will have 
rounded out into the full measure of manhood. They 
are respectability, usefulness and happiness. 

There are false guides to the aims and ambitions of 
young men. They point to the bewitching splendor 
of mere material triumphs, and lure the early step 
aside to things that dazzle, excite, and please for a lit- 
tle while, and then — vanish away. The true road 
leads through honesty, industry, sobriety and religion, 
and lands the young aspirant in the realm of highest 
earthly attainment. 

We spend much time in the study of lives that are 
completed — but we ought to give more attention to 

(17) 


2 


1 8 The igth Century Youfig Man. 

the lives that are at making. Look at the thousands 
of boys who are growing up all around us, and the 
millions of youths who stand ready in our land to shape 
the destiny of the coming generations. As you shape 
their character, so will you shape the future history 
of families and nations. It matters not what has been 
said to the young men in the past, every year brings 
an army of them to ripeness, and good advice, upon 
the threshold of their career, is demanded of those 
who have learned by experience. Then, too, the age 
has changed, and new men, with more enlarged equip- 
ment are needed for the present hour. 

Many young men have good motives. They aspire 
to be the best and do the best. Oh, for a myriad 
phalanx of them in our land ! Such a youth is re- 
ferred to in our text. He had cultivated the very 
best qualities of character, but he mistrusted that there 
might be something more needed under the code of 
the new Teacher. So he came to Jesus and inquired : 
“ What good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal 
life?” This is the burning question for all young 
men starting out in life. How many, through a false 
pride, play shy of church and religion ! They think 
it manly not to be in need of Christ and salvation, 
and they look upon all questions of their soul, as par- 
taking of the sentimental. They do ask: “What 


The Rich Young Man. 


*9 


thing shall I do, that I may have — power, fame, pleas- 
ure, riches” — but forget the paramount attainment — 
“ that I may have eternal life !” 

There was much in this young mari s favor. He 
had youth. Talk about the prime of life, and the 
glory of old age as much as you please — the sunny 
days and golden dreams lie in youth. The young 
heart covets no society with grief— it revels in the 
radiancy of hope, and darts forth in the spring-beauty 
of life. How much of future success lies wrapped up 
within the boundaries of youth ! It is yours but once, 
and when it is all aglow with blossoms, even with 
ripening fruit of early greatness and startling achieve- 
ments — what a spectacle to behold ! There never 
was, in any age, such a bid for young men to the 
more responsible positions of Finance and State, as 
to-day. Wall street has entirely changed its personnel 
within the last decade or two. Old men have been 
displaced, and the gigantic operations of the money- 
market are almost altogether in the hands of young 
men. Large business-firms, banks and trust-compa- 
nies, learned posts of the professions and exalted places 
in politics and government, are graced to a great ex- 
tent by young men. The aged will tell you — this, 
young men, is your time ! 

He had good health. He came running to the 


20 The 19th Century Young Man. 

Master — poor health drags along. One of the ele- 
ments of manhood is muscle. I am not now applaud- 
ing the knights of the ring, and commending the pu- 
gilistic endowments of a Sullivan. But a perfect 
physical development lies also in the ideal plan of 
the Creator’s mind. A young man has gained very 
little when he walks out of college, with a sheepskin 
under his arm, half-tottering with a wasted body. 
Beautiful to behold, that young wings are set for a 
lofty flight — but all thy brilliant attainments, and 
noble fires of ambition, will not take thee any fur- 
ther than nature can go. 

“ Unconquered powers the immortal mind displayed, ’ 

But worn with anxious thought the frame decayed ; 

Pale, o’er his lamp, and in his cell retired, 

The martyr-student faded, and — expired.” 

The world needs young men of muscular develop- 
ment. Character, genius and intellect must have the 
solid masonry of health to stand on, and must be en- 
cased in the brass frame-work of healthy nerves and 
stiffened muscles. When the intellectual fires get up 
their steam, the machinery must stand on solid rock. 
Mighty brains of earth have shattered their physical 
organizations, and had to stop their labors before right- 
ly begun — had to bury their genius early to save their 
bodies. Temperate habits, young men, are better 


The Rich Young Man. 


21 


than all the arcana of the druggist in a later day. 
They become illustrious, and the kings of the land, 
who have great plans, and the power to execute them. 

He was polite. He came with courteous demeanor 
to the Saviour. He was not a fop, who learned his 
bow from the dancing master, and who thought that 
politeness consisted in a fashionable pronunciation 
and a certain accomplishment of manners. Polite- 
ness goes very far in this world, and as Emerson says — 
“ Life is not so short but that there is always time 
enough for courtesy.” It is one of the estimates of 
a true gentleman, and Cowper gives the measure of 
him, when he says — 

“ A moral, sensible, and well-bred man 
Will not affront me ; and no other can.” 

Genuine politeness is sadly wanting in our youth — 
it is not a part of breeding. It has more than com- 
mercial value, where outward courtesy may be politic 
only, for the sake of the dollar. Genuine politeness 
grows up in Christian soil. It is the offspring of the 
good-will announced at the birth of Christ. To be 
truly courteous is to make yourself agreeable to every 
one you meet, and to respect the feelings of all peo- 
ple whether of high or low birth. 

He had good social standing. He was well thought 
of in his town, and the citizens made him a magis- 


22 The 19th Century Young Man. 

trate, a sort of a Justice of the Peace. It pays a 
young man to be highly respected in the community. 
The occasion often arises when the general character 
of a youth is to decide his passport to place and in- 
fluence. The first question generally is — “ Well, how 
does he stand at home ?’ ’ It is a mistake to think that 
the good opinion of other people has nothing to do 
with our happiness and success in life. Only the fool- 
hardy young man will defy the eyes of other people. 
High birth and favorable circumstance of life is not 
all, that is only something — respectability is more. 
How fortunate is that young man who has the esteem 
of his neighbors ! who is proud of his good standing 
among his people, yet is not haughty. 

He was educated. That he secured a place of prom- 
inence, and could argue so well with the Saviour, 
showed that he had intellectual training. Learning 
does not belong to the professionals only, every young 
man, in this day, ought to aspire to mental power. 
It will not do for the young man of this age to have 
others think and reason for him— he must frame ideas 
of his own. Nor must he be satisfied with a super- 
ficial learning, just enough to take him through the 
problem of addition and subtraction in money-get- 
ting. He must be a sort of a universal scholar, — 
lift himself up to the delights of a higher literature, 


The Rich Young Man. 


2 3 


and out into the wider sphere of practical knowledge. 
In this country poverty is no insurmountable barrier 
in the road to learning. Look to the men who have 
risen to fame and usefulness by their first lessons, stud- 
ied in the glow of the log-fire. Physical infirmity is 
no barrier, when the blind Homer, Ossian and Mil- 
ton have become the immortal poets, the blind Gam- 
bassio the immortal sculptor; the blind Prescott the 
immortal historian ; the club-footed Walter Scott the 
immortal novelist, the stuttering Demosthenes the 
immortal orator ; the humpbacked slave, the immortal 
yEsop. 

He had a good moral character. The Saviour 
pointed him to the necessity of keeping the command- 
ments. “ All these have I kept from my youth up — 
what lack I yet?” was his triumphant reply. I like 
that self-respect in a young man which puts him on 
his good behavior, and keeps him in the path of vir- 
tue and honor. The temptations of that day were 
many-sided, and especially prolific around the seat of 
public office. But this young ruler could say : “I 
stooped to no bribe, and hid no immoral wrongs be- 
neath my robe.” It is not all of perfection to be 
mor al — but it is far in the road of Christian attain- 
ment to have an irreproachable character. 

He was rich. What an advantage a good and sen- 


24 The 19th Century Young Man. 

sible young man has, who can start life with ready 
capital. He even had “great possessions ” He no 
doubt had houses and lands, flocks of sheep, camels 
and asses. He perhaps had vineyards and mines, and 
even ships upon the distant waters. - Stewarts and un- 
derlings were fed of his bounty — an army of them. 
He was a marked ydung man, and with so much wealth 
at his disposal, he originated great schemes and car- 
ried on great enterprises. He did all this with a con- 
scious strictness of honesty and honor — and no one 
envied him his riches. Often, however, a fortune to 
the young is a misfortune. 

How he lacked in one particular. Amiable, upright 
and pure — this Young Ruler nevertheless lacked one 
thing. All else being right, there is always one hin- 
drance in our way — one flaw in our character — one 
bitter drop in the cup of our joy. Christ saw a weak- 
ness deep down, and to show that his profession of 
thorough consecration and willing surrender to all 
that Christ might demand, was not possible in his state 
of heart, he exposed it. He was sincere after a man- 
ner, and yet he was not — and sincerity is gospel per- 
fection. 

His great hindrance was his riches. It never was a 
sin to be rich. To taint wealth with a vilifying breath 
is to sin against God. For the Maker himself pro- 


The Rich Young Man. 


25 


nounced it good, when He sofashionei the earth with 
its fulness, the elements, all land, and the sea that they 
readily can be converted into gold. When wealth 
stands for shelter, food and clothing, — education and 
culture — the arts and the sciences — for spiritual need, 
and the diffusing of truth — it is a blessing we cannot 
fully appreciate. But wealth for voluptuousness, pride, 
and every curse against the poor and oppressed, 
teaches us this — that riches represent all vices, as well 
as all values. God made many of His saints rich in 
this world’s goods. The trouble with this young man 
was that he had set his heart upon his riches. 

He had inherited this money, and it was not wrong 
for him to take good care of it. So many young men 
fall heir to a fortune and squander it in sin. I have 
charity enough to say also that Christ made a most 
sweeping demand. Supposing you had received such 
great possessions, and experienced that they had 
brought you much attention of men, given you great 
standing in the community, and invested you with un- 
limited power in the commercial world — would you 
not be loath to part with them, even in exchange for 
religion ? Poor human nature ! 

Christ did not mean to make this to be the loftiest 
ideal of human life, that we shall leave all we love, all 
duties, all affections, all charities of home and be- 


2 6 The 19th Century Young Man. 

come ascetic and celibate. He knows what inspira- 
tions lie in a young life along the line of money-making 
and fame-getting — and He did not altogether de- 
clare them a sin. He did not say to the well-to-do 
Lazarus of Bethany — “ give up thy wealth!” He 
did not say — leave this beautiful hill-side home, the 
loving care of your sisters, and the ancestral shade- 
trees of your pleasure-walks, and embrace poverty. 
Christ himself loved pleasant company, and some- 
thing good to eat and drink. He dined with the 
Pharisees and the sinners to give proof that a religious 
life is not to be a gloomy monastery. If we would 
be perfect, it is tiue, we must part with much that we 
love — but Christ did not strike so much at the wealth 
of the Young Ruler, as at the absorbing love for it, 
which placed the Cross and salvation only second in 
his heart. Christ did not lay down the principle that, 
when by honest industry a man has amassed a fortune, 
in order to become a Christian, he must with one sweep 
give it all away. He shall give to God, first of all, 
an honest and sincere heart. His heart consecrated, 
his money will be consecrated also. 

How he stood the test. Picture the young man 
standing before Christ. He thinks — his eyes cast to 
the ground — decides ! He goes away sorrowfully, for 
he cannot give up his riches, and he can almost not 


The Rich Young Man . 


27 


give up Christ. But, halting after the first step, he 
soliloquizes: “ I cant be a whole Christian — and a 
hypocrite I will not be!” So he goes. He goes 
away reluctantly, however. How many young men 
have been ruined who have done sin reluctantly. 
Christ looked lovingly after that young man — and so 
do you. There was so much beauty in his character, 
so much that was acceptable to God and to man, that 
we are almost willing to construe the applied argu- 
ment into his salvation. “ What shall I do that I may 
inherit eternal life? — You know the commandments; 
keep them : they are the way to life. — These have I 
kept.” Might not the demand upon his riches be 
construed into the question of perfection purely, aside 
of the question of salvation decided in the first an- 
swer ? Be that as it may, one thing is sure — a young 
man can be gentlemanly, honest, honorable and moral, 
and yet not be a cross-bearer, and a follower of Christ. 

The Divine Teacher brands that man a fool, who 
“ layeth up treasures for himself, and is not rich to- 
ward God. '* It ought to be the discipline of every 
young man’s heart to have feeling and sympathy for 
the needs of humanity. Increasing riches ought not 
to petrify the tender heart. As the purse grows, the 
soul ought not to dwarf. It can become a disease of 
our nature — this stingy, hoarding greed of money. 


28 The 19th Century Young Man. 

Oh ! for the grace of giving — it is a grace. Oh ! for 
the serene pleasure of that man who has princely lib- 
erty in the midst of princely wealth — a master of 
wealth, not its slave. You need not sell all that you 
have, perhaps — but a rich man can’t get the truth for 
nothing. If pressing need of charity be about thee, 
sell what thou canst spare, give of thy superfluities. 

“Thou shalt have treasure in heaven.’’ What an 
exchange ! But think more closely of the alternative 
of such riches. Boast of thy luxurious home, stocked 
with books, and manuscripts, and works of art, and 
musical instruments, and exhilarating wines, and all 
things that induce to refinement and pleasure. Call 
them thy treasures — rich young man. There is a 
Mansion in Heaven for thee, and even the angels 
dare not tell in words, the beauty and delights that 
await thee there. What are these earthly jewels, as 
compared to the marriage-ring for the feast, and the 
crown for the throne up there ! What are thy gar- 
ments of purple and blue, compared to the white robe 
beyond ! What are thy stocks and bonds and treas- 
ures of gold, compared to the kingdoms of wealth 
above ! There — are treasures beyond compare — health 
so perfect, joys so pure, friendships so true — life eter- 
nal. Your treasures in Heaven ! Yes, the dearchil- 


The Rich Young Man. 


29 


dren gone before will be given back to you. All of 
your fond relationships of earth will be restored with 
a blessed immortality. Out of the casket of death, 
lined with the bright hope of Christ’s resurrection, 
will they be lifted to you — these treasures. Heaven, 
your home — Jesus, your King — eternal hallelujahs your 
vocation. Your treasures ! 



III. 






Absalom said moreover, Oh that I were made judge in the 
land, that every man which hath any suit or cause might come 
unto me, and I would do him justice . — 2 Samuel 15 : 4. 

f HE fast young man of to-day ! 

His prototype I find in Absalom of ancient times. 
The handsomest youth in all the land of Israel was 
he — “ from the sole of his foot even to the crown of 
his head there was no blemish in him. ’ * Princely 
beauty ! His form of matchless symmetry was height- 
ened with grace by the distinguishing mark of a 
most extraordinary luxuriance of hair. Glossy silken 
curls, that were shorn once a year, and were reported 
by mouth of Judea’s daughters, to have pulled the 
scales at four pounds. 

Absalom was of royal blood, and the pet of his dis- 
tinguished father, king David. He had high mettle 
in him, and bore himself with courtly manners, and 
strangely dazzled the eye of the Jerusalemites and the 
( 3 °) 


The Fast Young Man. 


3 1 


throne. With plenty of money at command, a lov- 
ing indulgence from his parents, and flattered on all 
sides for his bewitching splendor, he had a ready pass- 
port to his evil propensities in the downward course 
to ruin. 

With all these God-given gifts in his favor, he was 
a fast young man. How many sons of noble birth 
and rich descent are “void of understanding”! 
Golden opportunities and often brilliant attainments 
only make more potent the intriguing heart that lies 
hid beneath the honeyed and patronizing words of 
my text. But he is found in every circle of acquain- 
tance. Even the store and the workshop know him 
by his smelling unguents and sporting airs. 

What a reproach to the young man who goes labeled 
through the world — he is fast ! It is an element of 
highest attainment to be sought after in some things. 
Behold ! how the iron-braced prow scatters, moun- 
tain-high, the spray of the angry waves. The Teu- 
tonic and City of New York are vying in speed over 
the Atlantic to win the title of the fastest steamer. 
Forenzi and Salvator are neck and neck in their light- 
ning dash over the race -course to win the applause of 
the fastest horse. It will do for boats and horses to 
be fast — but not young men. A fast age we live in, 
and things go by electricity and steam as never before. 


32 The ipth Century Young Man. 

What a glorious and exciting time to live in ! Dis- 
coveries and inventions lift us up, and fairly whirl us 
along upon the wheel of progress. It makes the blood 
tingle to feel how fast we go by the skill and genius 
of the day. But, alas ! the young men catch the 
spirit of the age, and they go fast too, often fast the 
wrong way. It takes a shorter time to smash up man- 
hood now then a century ago. We are railroading 
down grade, as well as up grade. How fast they go 
to crime, shame and ruin ! 

Absalom away fro 7 n his home. The young prince 
was held a little in check when under his father’s eye : 
but he did the trick of getting his own way by out- 
wardly honoring his parent to ask leave for it. He 
had a way of getting around his father, which the 
youth of the present age has not forgotten. But one 
day he committed a high crime — he instigated his ser- 
vants to kill his half-brother. He fled down to Ges- 
hur, and tarried there three years. He was in a bad 
school away from home-restraints. One wrong deed 
has sent many a boy out into the world, down to ruin. 

That boy of ten and twelve who loves to spend his 
evenings away from home, is starting out on the fast 
road. Go and find him — he lounges around the door 
of the lion’s trap. He may be sitting on the country 
store-box, and whittling with his barlow knife, and 


The Fast Young Man. 


33 


telling stories to his companions in the moon-shine ; 
or he may be hanging around the low-place theatre, 
and smoking cigaretts with his spoiled fellows in the 
glare of the electric light — he is learning to be fast. 
A little older, and home has grown dull — it is too 
nice and too pure. He would learn his trade in the 
city, just to get away from the fireside that kept him 
warm and good. Follow him. Soon you see him 
loafing around the street-corner, a young man made 
conspicuous by broad-striped clothes, twisted mous- 
tache, and a serpentine cane. He sweetly warbles 
the latest opera tune, swears a few of his club-chum’s 
oaths, and flings jests at decent and indecent girls 
that pass by. Parents of wealth, who seek their win- 
ter amusements, and take their summer jaunts, often 
give their boys a pocket full of money and send them 
out upon their own way. The fashionable seaside 
hotel gives the story of the fast young man who is 
away from home restraints. 

When home has no longer any music and beauty 
to charm the young man — beware ! 

Absalom turns his back to church. That royal fa- 
ther, David, spoke of the tabernacles of the Lord as 
amiable, and longed, even fainted, to enter their 
courts. It was his holy recreation to write hymns for 
the musicians and singers of the temple. Very likely 
3 


34 The igth Century Young Man. 

this pious king often took his boy Absalom by the 
hand, and led him up to Zion, and told him of the 
grand designs he had for building a house of worship 
to Jehovah. But do you ever hear of this handsome 
prince expressing a favorable sentiment for God’s 
house ? Where is it told "s that Absalom waited upon 
the Lord in his temple? The nearest thing to a re- 
ligious act that he ever did was to build himself a 
monumental tombstone. 

The fast young man despises the prayers of his 
sainted mother, and turns away from the sanctuary that 
his father loved. Who can calculate the worth of the 
church to character ! It will be Sodom in Palestine, 
and Sodom in the life of the young man, when the 
church is cast overboard. These spires that point heav- 
enward all over the land are the conspicuous signals that 
the country is safe. The church is the mighty con- 
servator of national greatness, more than its laws. 
The young man who will remain true to its altars will 
have an effectual safeguard against his downward ten- 
dencies. But let him once turn his back to the House 
of God, and forget the holy vows made there, he soon 
will be in the way of the scorner who tramples every 
sacred thing of church, home and heart under foot. 
He stretches and yawns on the Lord’s Holy Day, be- 
cause business, the theatre, the dance, and worldly 


The Fast Young Man. 


35 


excitements in general, are shut against him. The 
church-bell peals in vain to his ear, and he lolls away 
the sacred hours by sleep, or by the- flashy romance, 
and drives ennui from the dragging night, by carous- 
ing with his friends. 

Who dare despise the influences of the church when 
the greatest minds have espoused its cause, and ascribed 
their best happiness to the continued ministrations of 
the sanctuary ? The most available clerks, and most 
successful business young men, come from the ranks of 
those who are active in the church. That young man 
who walks not by the moralities and principles of the 
Christian religion will soon switch off from a correct 
life, and take a fast road to ruin. 

Absalom got into bad habits. This young prince 
had a special fondness to make grand feasts. There 
generally lay a dark plot in the back ground of them. 
He had the proclivities of a club-man. We know 
pretty well the habits of the club-man of to-day. The 
screened rooms where our boys meet, almost nightly, 
in social conclave, are laying a sandy foundation of 
character. The atmosphere in them is poisonous — 
young men there learn mostly to drink and to gam- 
ble. Absalom generally made his guests drunk with 
the best brands of wine, and then he sprung his perni- 
cious plans of vice and crime. 


36 The 19th Century Young Man . 

He went a step further — he got into politics. He 
had his private barbers do up his hair most handsome- 
ly every morning, put on his most striking apparel, 
and then stood early by the gate, and button-holed 
every farmer that came in to bear his grievances to 
the king. He even embraced and kissed every son 
of toil, and told him how he would do if chance 
would ever put him into office. Young men, that is 
about the character of politics. There is so much 
tall lying going on within its domain, and such dis- 
honest dealing ! The cunning sharpness that is needed 
to make equivocal promises, and then give unequivo- 
cal neglect to them, is very damaging to the morals 
of character. The kind of game a man learns to 
play in politics is apt to taint his motives and actions 
also in private and public matters. Yet, the genius 
of our government demands that politics be our earn- 
est solicitude. We pray, give us good and experi- 
enced men to take hold of the helm of politics — but 
spare the young man. Only the Daniels can come 
out of this lion’s den unharmed. What an honor, 
that you a young man should be styled a ward politi- 
cian ! Why I would rather be an honest rag-picker, 
than a certain kind of a ward politician. What do 
you reap for your ambition in such menial service as 
is exacted here ? In a few years the story is told of 


The Fast Young Man. 


37 


many a young man — by the bloated face he wears, by 
the company he keeps, by the professional and busi- 
ness opportunities he has neglected. Aspire to be a 
man first, with character ripened in other spheres, and 
if politics seeks you then, accept office. 

He even went a step further — he made an open ex- 
hibition of his lust. His lewd and wicked act in the 
tent upon the house-top, for all Israel to see, showed 
that he was a frequenter of the house of the design- 
ing woman. Young man, beware of the gilded pal- 
ace of the strange woman ! Let the fool smack his 
lips over the cup he drinks in the beginning — at the 
last, licentiousness will sting with pain and shame. 
There are Absaloms to-day, who are brazen enough to 
boast of their sin, and parade it before the world. 
Others seek to hide their shame. Young man, it is 
a poor beginning in your profession, in your business, 
in your trade — and it is no secret, the story is out. 
Even the night cab-man will forget his bribe, and tell 
strange things of the single and married man. 

Absalom was fond of display , and lavishly spent his 
money , He affected the airs of a prince. He had 
chariots built of a most magnificent style ; he had 
horses imported, a novelty to the Hebrew people ; he 
harnessed them in the glitter of gold; he dressed in 
rich livery fifty able bodied men, after the manner of 


38 The 19th Century Young Man. 

the royal guard — and then he dashed forth upon the 
crowded streets, with these avant couriers running 
ahead of him, crying — “ Ho ! prepare the way — Absa- 
lom ! Absalom!” And the pilgrims and the citi- 
zens stood gazing at this splendid pageantry, and said 
— “ Is this Absalom!” So he lavishly spent his fa- 
ther’s money. 

The fast young man is always loud — loud in his 
dress, he is ablaze with jewelry; loud in his talk, he is 
pompous with empty boasting ; loud in his manners, 
he struts with consequential demeanor. He spends 
money fast. Any fool can spend money in this way 
when it is given to him, and he need not work for it. 
Even though he squanders the wages of his own toil, 
it is censurable. He seldom pays his bills, and the 
tradesmen have combined against him in self-protec- 
tion. 

The fast young man is no merchant-prince — he 
mostly is an underling of a small salary. But his 
habits are costly luxuries in a year. At first it is 
not his intention to become so wayward and so extra- 
vagant. But when once in the drift of the wicked 
current, the sail downward is a fast and inevitable 
one. Tempted into the trap, he sticks fast in the 
meshes He is in for it. Delilah too is treacherous, 
and she will sap the last vestige of integrity, honor 


The Fast Young Man. 39 

and manhood. The salary does not reach, for all the 
leeches of bad habit cry — give ! give ! Gambling, 
forgery or embezzlement are his only reserve. He en- 
ters Wall Street, and follows the ignis fatuus of specu- 
lation, fails in his pursuit, and goes to ruin. He robs 
the bank, doctors the accounts, is exposed, and 
plunges into eternity. 

Look at these flaunting vices, these amusements 
with painted banners unfurled, these dens of iniquity 
brilliant with colors and music — who sustains them ? 
The fast young man from the country-fireside, and the 
indulgent city-home. How wickedly all this money 
is spent ! It might have relieved the pinching pover- 
ty of a widowed mother in her meager hovel ; it might 
have brought a flush of joy into the blanched cheek of 
a young wife, and given comfort, clothing and educa- 
tion to her darling children ; it might have bought a 
home, secured investments, and established a manly 
character. Alas ! the anchor is lost, the moorings 
too — and down goes the ship. The worst of it is, it 
goes down with all it has on board. 

Absalom soon fell into reckless crime. The culmi- 
nation of his depraved nature was reached in the 
bloody schemes to win the throne. At last the hellish 
plans were ripe, the opposing armies clashed in war, 
and down with the liege intriguer went Ahithophel, 


40 The igth Century Young Man. 

the Bismark of Israel, and with him 20.000 brave 
men. Treason ! History holds in disdain forever the 
ignominy that clouds the name of the man who turned 
traitor to his country. But he was more than this, he 
was traitor to the most sacred relations of human ex- 
istence — he stealthily sharpened his sword against his 
father. 

“ Treason, and murder, ever kept together, 

As two yoke-devils sworn to either’ s purpose.” 

What depths of fallen nature are these, when the 
son of a good and illustrious parent will lose all the 
in-born instincts of a child against the parent who 
blindly yearned — 

“ For while the treason I detest, 

The traitor still I love ! ” 

But this is the transformation of character in the 
young man who has come to be fast. Those cords, 
that with golden beauty, hold the heart of youth to 
the sweet relationships of a father’s home, are broken. 
The rotten tendrils of love have twined around the 
portals of other places. He can read the plaintive 
letter from the old homestead, without a thrill, and 
hear the appeals of parents in want with never an emo- 
tion Is the young spendthrift in straits, he can wan- 
der back to his parental roof without a tinge of shame 
upon his cheek, and devour the hard-earned bread of 


The Fast Young Man. 


4i 


his father’s table in indolence. Has he by his smart 
ways, pleasing manners, and fair promises duped the 
girl of a good home into marriage ; is she a mother, 
and now in want with her little offspring, he will not 
care for them, only the old folks at home. With such 
a son the aged people are always in distress. The 
bowed-down father must often turn his steps to town 
to get his wayward boy out of scrapes. He stands se- 
curity for him, mortgages his property in his old days 
to pay his bills, and many a time has to plead before 
the bars of earth and Heaven to save his son from jail 
and the gallows. Oh ! it is a great mystery, this de- 
pravity of the fast young man. 

Absalom very early came to his judgment. It is 
true the sudden rise of a hostile army, with this in- 
trepid, treacherous, and parricidal son at its head, threw 
consternation into Jerusalem. The aged king fled his 
palace on Mount Zion ; his family, servants, officers, 
councillors, and the brave six hundred followed, and 
after them the wives, the children, the aged and in- 
firm, — all fled as fugitives from a conquering king. 
David, however, rallied in the hills of Gilead, and 
down from Mahanaim’s heights he saw his army march 
to battle with the iron-hearted Joab at its head. The 
troops met in fierce array, the conflict soon over, and 
the rebel hosts defeated. How they wildly retreated ! 


42 The igth Century Yoimg Man . 

and straying in wild gallop upon his mule, Absalom 
darts under the Bashan oaks. His floating hair whip 
around a lowering branch, the beast gallops on — 
Absalom hangs Ten young men dispatch him, cut 
him down, and cast his carcass into a pit. 

Alas, the fast young man ! He hardly lives out half 
his life. Speedily he comes to judgment. No ap- 
peal to prudence, reason, conscience or eternal retri- 
bution will do. He goes on distorting the graces of 
his body, besotting the gifts of his mind, and squan- 
dering the privileges of his youth, until by impetuous 
insanity he has rushed to the terrors of his doom. 

In the end, he breaks his father’s heart. David, 
who once fleet of foot, escaped the demon-hunt of 
Saul, routed the«lion with a shepherd’s crook, slew the 
giant with a pebble-stone, now sits in the gate of Ma- 
hanaim, his silvered brow bent in grief. To the cap- 
tain Joab he tenderly cries, as he mounts his war- 
steed for the affray: “ Gently , gently , for my sake, 
with the boy Absalom.” The sun sinks low, and yet 
he waits. The trumpet sounds retreat, and soon the 
running messenger comes. David’s passionate love 
yearns for news about the safety of his unworthy son. 
The second messenger is a barbed arrow that shoots 
over the plain, and in the gate it pierces that aged 
heart. Groaning, he goes up into the watchman’s 


The Fast Young Man. 


43 


tower : “ O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absa- 
lom ! Would Gcd I had died for thee ! O Absalom, 
my son, my son ! ” At last before the pall he stands 
— draw the curtain, and leave the living with the dead. 
The deeps of soul-agony are over ! 

“ And now farewell ! ’Tis hard to give thee up, 

With death so like a gentle slumber on thee ; — 

And thy dark sin ! — Oh ! I could drink the cup, 

If from this woe its bitterness had won thee. 

May God have call’d thee, like a wanderer, home, 


My lost boy, Absalom ! ” 

He covered up his face, and bow’d himself 
A moment on his child : then, giving him 
A look of melting tenderness, he clasp’d 
His hands convulsively, as if in prayer ; 
And, as if strength were given him of God, 
He rose up calmly, and composed the pall 
Firmly and decently — and left him there — 
As if his rest had been a breathing sleep.” 



IV. 



And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country ; 
and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would 
fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat : 
and no man gave unto him. — St. Luke ij : 15, 16. 



’ONE to the dogs !” 


Sitting with an aged sire on the hotel-piazza 
down ty the sea, I was entertained with a most fascina- 
ting history of a certain young man. His splendid 
family birth, his precociousness in learning, his flatter- 
ing start in life, his social eclat, his financial success, 
were detailed to me with a gracious savor. The climax 
reached, the good-natured gentleman turned to me 
with a mellow pathos in his voice, saying: “Since 
then, that young man has gone to the dogs !” 

The sudden collapse of a brilliant life, so charac- 
teristically described in a few words, hung that phrase 
upon my ears with a weird and prolonged intonation 
— “ gone to the dogs ! — gone to the dogs !” Nor is 


(44) 


The Young Man Gone to the Dogs. 


45 


it an inelegant phrase just because it missed the pol- 
ishing stone. Its rough-hewn imagery sets out in 
bold relief the picture it would display. 

It places a stigma upon the dog to begin with — does 
he deserve it ? There is no pleasanter sight to behold 
in oriental life, than a flock of snow-white sheep, 
scattered over the green meadow, the shepherd sitting 
on the soft turf, playing his lute — and his faithful 
shaggy dog by his side. The intelligent and brave 
shepherd-dog, and the light and beautiful greyhound 
of old-time Bible-scenes, are not so to be despised. 
The stigma rather rests upon that race of curs, which 
were half-domesticated wolves and jackals, the scaven- 
gers of streets and dunghills — unclean, savage and 
hungry brutes, devouring the bodies of the dead, and 
tearing to pieces the bodies of the living. Scripture 
makes use of the depraved instinct and practice of 
these curs, to point out certain conditions of human 
nature. A man lost to all modesty, guilty of wicked 
abominations, brutish in appetite and taste, divested 
of all feeling, and a sort of a civilized cannibal — was 
called a dog. Whence perhaps has arisen the phrase — 
“ gone to the dogs !” — fallen to the instincts and life 
of a brute-scavenger in the grade of human character. 

The Prodigal answers so well to the style of young 
man we have in view, that we will select him for por- 


4 6 The 19th Century Young Man. 

trayal. You interpose — “ then, you ought to say — a 
young man gone to the swine / ’ ’ That is true, but* 
we are using a popular modern phrase, which means 
about the same. It is always a bad sign when a young 
man wants to get away from a good home. If it be a 
hovel, reeking in vice, and governed by cruelty, there 
is a good excuse. But here is a country-mansion of 
pleasant appointments, looking out over miles of land 
— all its own, and its fields waving with plenty. The 
oriental home of a country nabob ! If the artist be 
right, its exterior was raised in polish stone, with a 
veranda extending along the sunny-side, and fluted 
pillars supporting its shady roof, gardens laid out be- 
fore it, with spreading palms, and creeping vines, and 
towering cedars, and spouting fountains, and swimming 
swans, and birds of paradise. It is more than the 
country house of the mufti of Tocat, of which Amos 
writes. Refinement too pervaded it — for later we dis- 
cover that maidens, skilled in music and the dance, 
were among its regular luxuries ; richly embroidered 
robes, of foreign texture, used for festal occasions, 
were among its possessions; jewelry, from which to 
select a ring, were among its superfluities. Disciplined 
menials at command within, hirelings without ; table 
bending with the firstlings of the flock, the most lus- 
cious of the vineyard, the daintiest from foreign lands, 


The Young Man Gone to the Dogs. 47 

and pouring with sample wines of Lebanon, and 
Cyprus, and Samos, and Tenedos and Muscatel of 
Smyrna brands. The barns stocked with cattle, and 
camels and asses, and the hillsides fleecy with sheep — 
a vault of gold in the cellar. A young man never 
had a better home, and a kinder father. 

This profligate son had a very wrong idea of life. 
He was a jovial boy — his after life indicates this. He 
was a sort of a wag in the house no doubt, and his 
father would often join the farm-hands in laughter 
over his tricks, and pleasingly assert — “ a smart boy !” 
But a certain kind of smartness in boys is a bad in- 
gredient, and they never turn out well who treat life 
simply as a joke, who give not one look to the days 
before them, with some degree of serious thought. 

He was a boy full of the adventurous spirit — ever 
dreaming of the ‘ ‘ far off country. ’ ’ He had a longing 
desire to go out to see the world He often, of an 
evening, sat by to listen to the stories of his father’s 
tradesmen, as they paid their yearly visit from dis- 
tant lands and seas. Their descriptions of strange 
sights thrilled him. Then too he read by the blazing 
chimney-fire the flashy novels of the orient, the an- 
cient cow-boy stories, and travels of exciting adven- 
ture — so he longed to get out into the world. Nor 
did he for a moment think, much less care, perhaps, 


48 The igth Century Young Man. 

that his parents might grow old, and would need him ; 
might take sick and die, and had need of a loving 
burial. Not a tear stole down his cheek at this thought. 
As for that elder brother, well he was always surly 
and commanding — he reflected no charms for him. 
Father managed and toiled to get this glorious planta- 
tion together for his boys — he had no grateful thought 
for that, he will go. 

His idea of a manly life was — to be independent. 
He will throw off the ennui, yoke and dependence of 
home, and strike out for himself. He craves for free- 
dom — to be away from the parental eye in order to 
do as he please. Ah ! — mistaken youth. The world, 
and all experience have settled it, that loving depen- 
dence, free obedience, and glad and unselfish service 
are the distinctive marks of sonship — and that these 
alone bring the best rewards to children. How many 
a young man who thought the burden at home too 
heavy, the yoke too hard, rushed out into the world to 
be servant and slave to tyrants ! Never so rich art 
thou, as when thou hast a father’s love ; never so free 
as when sharing the bread of his table, and sitting in 
the shelter of his home. No one is independent — 
out in the world always dependent. Since then we 
must live and prosper by the leave of other people ; 
in the helpless state at least, it is always better to de- 


The Young Man Gone to the Dogs. 49 

pend on those who love us, than on those who care 
only for themselves. 

“ Cling to thy home ! If there the meanest shed 
Yield thee a hearth and a shelter for thy head, 

And some poor plot, with vegetables stored, 

Be all that Heaven allots to thee for thy board, 

Unsavory bread, and herbs that scatter’d grow 
Wild on the river-brink or mountain-brow ; 

Yet e’en this cheerless mansion shall provide 
More heart’s repose than all the world beside.” 

This young man’s idea of attaining happiness in life 
was transgression. He went out into the world to 
have, as the boys say, “ a rattling good time ! ” He 
had no thought of the higher delights of travel. The 
wonders of nature, the achievements of science, the 
creations of art, the customs of peoples, did not take 
him out into the world. It seems this boy’s thoughts 
ran along a low level. He was one of those anoma- 
lies of a family that can never be rightly reconciled 
with the nobler qualities of parents and children. 
‘ ‘Where did he get this from? — his father and mother 
were not so, nor is his elder brother anything like 
him.” So the neighbors philosophized about that 
boy. He went out bent on making himself happy by 
breaking the laws of health and social well-being, when 
on the face, such transgression bore the evidence of an 


4 


50 The 19th Century Young Man. 

inevitable penalty for each sin, and penalties that 
rushed torrent-like one on top of the other, to cause 
pain and bring ruin. 

The prodigal could not appreciate the value and use 
of money. This oriental youth was built very much 
like some of our modern boys, who are overly anxious 
to get, what they vulgarly style, their “ divy.” They 
sometimes have a very wrong thought about their in- 
heritance, and frequently associate it with convenient 
funerals. So rude are they that they will show an un- 
filial impatience with the tardy march of a declining 
parent down to the grave. Says the prodigal : * ‘ Fa- 
ther, I can’t wait for my share until you die, so give 
it to me now.” That sire divided share and share. 
He emptied his vaults and gave his recreant son, in 
gold and valuables, his part, and reserved the farm, 
no doubt, for his elder brother. It is well to help 
boys to a start in life. Parents often lock up their 
wealth until they die, allowing their grown sons and 
married daughters to struggle for a foothold in vain. 
They get their share only after golden opportunities 
have passed forever, and the enthusiasm of their young- 
er days has died away. But on the other hand, young 
men should not get all their wealth too soon in life — 
seldom is the youthful character strong enough for sud- 
den prosperity. 


The Young Ma?i Gone to the Dogs. 51 

Away the prodigal goes ! Good-bye ! to home — 
good-bye ! to honor and prosperity. Far, far away he 
gees to do as he please. One day a handsome youth 
is seen parading the streets of a town in a distant land 
His dress indicates that he is a foreigner, and a young 
man of means. He puts on sporting airs, which soon 
are noticed, and he makes much of his fine jewelry, and 
throws down money carelessly wherever he has occa- 
sion to spend. He has come abroad for a good time, 
and he is looking around for congenial chums. It is 
a pity the respectable young men of that town did not 
meet him — the drift of his life might have been differ- 
ent. “Birds of a feather flock together,” — and the 
bad and unprincipled young men see a prize in him. 
Here the fall begins — bad company. This is the cata- 
ract over which many an unsuspecting pleasure-boat 
has plunged into the devouring gulf. They may have 
had a pleasant way of approaching the young stranger, 
considerate for his loneliness, and offering with an air 
of agreeable manners to show him the sights of the 
town. Very soon however the vicious propensities, 
depraved appetites, and corrupt habits asserted them- 
selves, and he found he had cast his lot with the fast 
young men of the town. There was no longer any 
chance for social standing left to him — he was judged 
by the company he kept. His reputation was damaged 


52 The iyth Century Young Man . 

right from the start, and as to his character, his asso- 
ciates had that moulded to their taste in a very short 
time. How soon the heart catches the vileness of 
another ! Even when you think that contact with a 
friend, whose vices you do not approve, will never 
affect you, yet unconsciously you are tainted, if not 
smutted and ruined. I know of no force in the wide 
world that will so readily and so speedily blight the 
hopes, and wreck the life of a young man, as the 
power of evil associations. All the wickedness drawn 
in the Old Testament concerning men and their life 
was caused largely by the influence of bad company. 
From Eve down to Peter we have the downfalls cred- 
ited to bad company. If upon the wilted brow of 
every ragged drunkard, ruined gambler, pale-faced 
jail-bird, candidate for the gallows, you were to write 
one sentence, it would be — “got into bad company .” 

The prodigal soon saw that he was held in no higher 
thought than his associates — and so he didn’t care, 
and steeped in “ riotous living.” You know what is 
implied in that kind of living. No doubt he be- 
came a member of one of those mystical sporting- 
clubs of the town, whose windows are heavily cur- 
tained, and whose doors are locked by an ingenious 
key. He was always the first to subscribe to the 
birth- day feasts of his associates, and the last to linger 


The Young Man Gone to the Dogs. 53 

over the sparkling chalice, filled and refilled to the 
health of his friends. He was a frequenter of the 
theatre. He had no taste for the legitimate and more 
exalting drama — he sat in the procenium-boxes of the 
flashy, variety shows. The spectacular stage suited 
his depraved taste. Nor did sleep invite him at the 
drop of the curtain. With his hilarious companions, 
he sought the gaming-table. At mid-night he passed 
in by this gate of hell, and laid his money down on 
the roulette-table ; lost, won — lost and lost again. He 
left. Next day, to arouse his dejected spirits, he went 
to the races, bet on the fastest courser, which never 
won. Night upon him, he visited the darkened street, 
and frequently rapped at the door of Delilah. His 
cup was full. 

How his money went ! He “ wasted his substance 
in riotous living.” A sink-hole in the dam will soon 
empty the largest body of water. The banker one 
day sent him notice — “ Your account is overdrawn.” 
That was a new revelation to the reckless boy. He 
bethought himself, then reached to his bosom and 
plucked a sparkling gem, particularly selected for him 
by his father on the day he went from home. He 
pawned his jewelry from time to time. The last pre- 
cious article that he had about him, may have been a 
memento hung around his neck and resting upon his 


54 The 19th Century Young Man . 

breast — a painted portrait of his mother, all set in 
jewels, and given to him as the most precious heir- 
loom. He looked at it as it appealed to him in the 
palm of his hand — but the filial instincts were gone, 
without one regret of sweet memory, he sacrificed it 
also in riotous waste. 

He soon found himself at his rope 1 s end. The prodi- 
gal arose one morning, confronted by the landlord’s 
notice to quit. He stood in the street hesitating, de- 
liberating what to do. Meanwhile his associates 
passed — but passed coldly by on the other side. They 
had greeted him as a stranger to town, and been his 
boon companion in the day of his prosperity — but 
now, so soon they pass him by. Bankrupt ! He lost 
everything — his money, his credit, his character, his 
friends. Everything gone, and nothing left, but a 
nervously used-up body. What will he do? He is 
just good enough to take care of swine, just respecta- 
ble enough to eat out of their self-same trough. 
“And no man gave unto him.” It is the way the 
devil treats his friends. When he gets them into a 
hole, he lets them stick. When he has debauched their 
intellect, despoiled them of their purity, wasted their 
health, and squandered their wealth — he flatters them 
no longer, he basely sells them out, and lets them go 
to the dogs. 


The Young Man Gone to the Dogs. 55 

Oh, the pitiable depths of such a fall ! How far 
the road from the pinnacle of such a home down to 
such an end. The road is far, but down grade goes 
quick. Many a young man is on this road now. He 
may not think so — but he is. I know it by the com- 
pany he walks with, by the habit of life he pursues, by 
the evil genius that drives him, by the manner of his 
speech, and the character of his deeds — he is going 
down to the dogs ! Many a young man has landed 
there. Lord, what a wreck ! Can he ever be lifted 
up ? Can he ever retrace his steps, regain his loss and 
stand in the beauty and purity of youth, which once 
was his? A thousand fall — one comes back. So 
deep and irretrievable is that fall. 

But there is hope — the Prodigal came back. He 
had lost everything — no, he still kept his memory. 
Resting against the cool side of the rugged boulder 
in the field one day, with the swine crunching the 
husks at his feet, the picture of his far away home 
flashed upon his mind. He seemed at once to smell the 
sweet fragrance of a harvest on his father’s farm; he 
saw the sheaves gathered in and piled up in the barn ; 
he heard the song of the vineyard, as the hirelings 
gathered the grapes into the press — and he saw them 
file into that dear old home, sit down to a feast, “ with 
bread enough and to spare,” while he sat alone with 




56 The 19th Century Young Man. 

gnawing hunger, waiting to perish. Just then, the 
picture of that sunny-veranda came back to memory. 
He saw it as it looked on the morning when he bid 
the old homestead a cold farewell. There now stood 
again the form of his father bowed in sorrow, he feels 
the pressure of his hand as he whimpers an affection- 
ate farewell, he feels the warmth of his tears as they 
trickle down his cheeks, and those words, last spoken, 
come back as a draught of cool water to the parched 
lips : “ My boy, when thou art tired wandering in the 
world, come back to thy father's heart and home.” 
He arose, came back, and sat to a father’s feast, in a 
father’s house. Lost — but again reclaimed ! 



V. 


Ije bouttg jlUttt of 


Resting. 


And the 1 .ord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man. 
— Gen. 39 : 2. 

f HE young man of destiny ! 

It was the conviction of the great Napoleon that 
he was born under a lucky star. He is familiarly 
styled, “the child of destiny.” There is one other 
figure of history who, even with greater appropriate- 
ness, might have received this soubriquet — Joseph, the 
son of the Patriarch Jacob. 

We are not applying the word destiny in its pagan 
sense, and are not borrowing our belief from the 
mythology of the Fates. We believe in an overruling 
Providence as affecting nations and men, and we are 
thoroughly convinced that individuals are specially 
selected of God to accomplish certain great ends in 
the world. Bonaparte to break the feudal-system of 
Europe, Washington to build up and defend the lib- 

( 51 ) 


58 The igth Century Young Man. 

erty of America, Luther to shatter the fetters of a 
false religion, Paul to storm the ramparts of Heathen- 
dom — so men are selected of Heaven as instruments, 
whether of servile ambition or noble virtue, to work 
out the welfare of the passing ages. 

Young man, who can tell but an inevitable destiny 
may hang over your head. It is not always luck, nor 
pluck, nor favorable coincidence, nor blind fate, 
that brings certain men to the front — it is destiny. 
God makes His instruments out of pliable material. 
Great men consciously and unconsciously co-operate 
with God to the working out of plans. The Almigh- 
ty foresees the crises of history, and prepares for them 
by the selection of his Pauls and Luthers and Bona- 
partes and Washingtons, from the cradle. He does 
not predestine. He, however, has the foreknowledge 
of men and their unfolding fitness, and He selects 
and specially consecrates them. Perhaps you, young 
man, are such a child of destiny, and training under 
God for some high accomplishment in life ! Go out 
in the ever-unfolding virtues of true manhood to meet 
your God and your destiny. 

Joseph was such a child of providential necessity. 
God selected the lad out of the valley of Hebron, 
and ordained that he be more than a shepherd in the 
tent-life of Mamre — he was to glitter with the regalia 


The Young Man of Destiny. 59 

of authority in the palaces of the Pharaohs. Men 
come into the world, and they bring something with 
them from which to build up greatness. Genius with- 
out work is nothing, and work without genius is only 
a little more. Joseph had an old head on young 
shoulders. By his superior qualities of character, 
though but seventeen years of age, he was made chief- 
shepherd over his older brethren. How amiable, 
tender-hearted, truthful and honorable in all his ac- 
tions ! His history is most fascinating from the very 
point of obscurity to the pinnacle of renown. He 
had a sad life, and one full of adventure. But he il- 
lustrated to the youths of all climes and time, that a 
good life pays in the end. No compromise of the 
truth, nor of any virtue of character, did he make for 
advantage of pleasure, gain or power God rewards 
goodness, and goodness is even its own reward. Those 
who harmed Joseph had the harm to rebound upon their 
own heads. Those who harbored and honored him, 
were signally prospered in wealth, life, and fame — all 
because Joseph was the child of destiny. A good 
young man is always a safe investment. 

Joseph was divinely born. His mother Rachel was 
barren for twenty years — he was given in answer to 
prayer. His birth was extraordinary, and the purpose of 
his life must be extraordinary too. The first advantage 


60 The iyth Century Young Man. 

to a young man is, that he be born right. There is 
a difference in children, because there is a difference 
in the parents they are born from. We often hear 
the boast of “ good blood. ” Literally speaking there 
is no “ blue blood,” for all blood is red — and there is 
none worth the boasting of, except genuine Christian 
blood. If in your veins courses the blood of a line 
of Christian patriots, your pride of ancestry comes 
with good grace. It is a blessing to be born of a 
good mother. When Jacob looked upon “ the son 
of his old age” he saw the eyes of Rachel there, and 
an outline of face all her own. Joseph had inherited 
his mother’s beauty, and also her piety. To be born 
of noble and pious parents is more, than to be the 
child of the worldly rich, and the wickedly great. 
Better is the inheritance that good parents give you 
at your birth, than the great inheritance bad parents 
leave you when they die. 

Joseph was divinely protected. Being a pious and 
prayerful boy, God over-shadowed him with His pro- 
tecting wings. Envy shot at him — the barbed arrows 
of his own brethren were fired at him, biting taunts, 
and sneering mockery, and bloody threats. That 
“ coat of many colors” caused Joseph many a secret 
sorrow. Whether at home or out in the fields, its 
princely beauty stirred the jealousy of his brothers — 


The Young Man of Destiny. 6 1 

and they hated him That he was so lovable he could 
not help, and that his father doted on his fair boy, 
was but natural — yet parents ought not so openly show 
partiality to the favorites of their home, for favor- 
ites always are envied. But there is such a difference 
in boys of the same home — some are only fit to be 
swept out with the broom by the back door. Think 
not, young man, that you shall be praised and loved 
of the world, and escape envy. Your joy shall cast a 
shadow over the jealous heart, and your excellence 
breed base slander in a rival’s soul. If the devil 
hate, we can have courage to fight — but when the 
green-eyed monster lurks within our own home, and 
hides beneath the robe of our own friends, we hardly 
are prepared to laugh at the blows. Oh ! how Jacob 
loved that boy, and God loved him too — He was his 
shield of protection against the darts that flew. 

Make not light of the turning-points of your life. 
Was that a mere coincidence, when the caravan of 
Ishmaelite-traders passed that way, and Joseph was 
sold for the price of a slave ? Was it the merest 
chance that Potiphar in Egypt bought the exiled lad, 
and afterwards made him bailiff of his house, and 
overseer of all his farms ? Remember the child of 
destiny. He soon made the fields to blossom, and 
the gardens to bloom, the live-stock to fatten, and 


I 


62 The 19th Century Young Man. 

the fishes to multiply. The palace he brightened 
without, and made it an emporium of art within — - 
“the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s 
sake.” Potiphar’s wife took a daily interest in the 
dexterous management of this youth. She flattered 
him, and toyed with his affections, all the while cast- 
ing adulterous eyes upon his handsome form. Daily 
she solicited, constantly he refused — a martyrdoom. 
Opportunity some can resist, but importunity few can 
flee from. Joseph fled — he left his mantle in the 
frenzied grasp of his wanton mistress, and fled. “ How 
can I do this great wickedness and sin against God.” 
Here retreat was victory, and flight was heroism — and 
in it all was the strength of God. 

^Calumny put him into prison — the malicious treachery 
of a woman cast him into the round-house and the 
dungeon. Not only was he afflicted with the iron 
fetter, but with the thoughts of a ruined character. 
That he should suffer an unjust imprisonment was 
keen enough, but to feel himself slandered, and his 
name made a by-word in the mouths of the wicked, 
was heart-crushing. How many noble ones of earth 
can tell of the bitter dregs of his experience ! But 
Joseph was divinely protected. He was not killed 
for his crime, but raised to honor even in prison. 
He was the child of destiny. 


The Young Man of Destiny. 63 

He was divinely endowed. We find young men 
invested with excellent gifts, their minds enriched 
with extraordinary qualities, their characters and per- 
sons graced with the very dowery of Paradise. You 
might almost say : 

“ More lovely than Pandora, whom the gods 
Endowed with all their gifts,” 

But the endowment given to Joseph was a special 
gift of Heaven — he was “a dreamer,” and the inter- 
preter of dreams. Under the surface of a conscious 
world lies Dream-land, its night-flashes dart toward the 
supernatural realm. In ancient times, more than now, 
God walked in the midst of that realm — and few 
among the mortals had the key of entrance there. 
The day of special endowments is not passed — for all 
extraordinary gifts are of God. True, we may not 
have the dreams of the Pharaohs to interpret, but the 
wizards of science are among us, the Edisons unlock 
the door of mystery ; and the Muellers of prayer 
open the windows of Heaven. It is often said of 
young men — ‘ ‘ they are dreamers. ” Yes, what vision- 
aries some youths are ! They burn with ambitious 
desire for the future. They sit with hands folded in 
the idle fancy that something great will turn up for 
them. They say : “ wait ’til my ship comes over the 


64 The igth Century Young Man. 

sea.” What a vain anticipation of achievements and 
power and greatness and glory that pass by the house 
of revery. It is a pleasing pastime, to sit quietly, 
building “ air castles ” — but dreamers of such a sort 
will never be the governors and prime-ministers of 
Egypt. Life is a real thing, and the victories it has 
to bestow come by valiant fight. Endowments of 
mind and body are nothing, if not by assiduous labor 
developed and applied. How many a young man 
might be a Joseph, of growing power and influence, 
if the gifts that God gave him, only were prayerfully 
cultivated and employed ! 

He was divinely exalted. Behold Joseph riding in 
the chariots of the Pharaohs ! He is governor over 
all the land of the Nile, and carries with him the 
royal seal. Who placed him there ? The king may 
have thought he did it — but Joseph was the child of 
destiny. What a beautiful web-work is Providence ! 
Its delicate construction and completeness we often 
see only when it is finished. God foresaw the famine 
in Egypt, and the need of corn for Israel out of that 
land. That the sun might shine, and the dew might 
fall not in vain, upon the heads of the heathen, even 
God cast around, and brought down from the far 
off vale of Hebron His chosen agent, to fill the gra- 
naries of Egypt. Young man, are you so much of a 


The Young Man of Destiny. 65 

believer in Providence, as to be assured that God helps 
to shape your way of life, and the successes that crown 
it ? Shakespeare would have it : 

“ There is a divinity that shapes our ends, 

Rough-hew them how we will.” 

Joseph, decked in purple robe, and wielding the 
golden sceptre, might more religiously have thought 
of the dungeon and its disgrace, and then exclaimed : 

“ Behind the dim unknown, 

Standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch above 
his own.” 

What a pleasure in the thought of being vindica- 
ted ! Potiphar’s wife accused him wrongly, and 
though holy in heart, he was made a debased fellow. 
A jail-bird ! What preferment can come after that ! 
But here is the proof, that God’s will concerning the 
pure and innocent is higher than the shame of a priso- 
ner’s shackles. A name dishonored, and a character 
defamed innocently, can outleap the reproach — the 
good man will be known and honored. Was it not a 
satisfaction for Joseph to think back to the wrong he 
suffered at the hands of his brethren, and to find his 
prayerful submission rewarded ? Was is not a satisfac- 
tion for him to realize that the despised slave of Poti- 
phar’s house had become the ruler over it, and all the 
5 


66 The igth Century Young Man. 

lands. There is pleasure in being honored of men 
and of use to the world. It is a thing not to be des- 
pised, young man, to aspire to power and to fame — 
but there is true fame and false fame, and only one 
way that leads to it. 

He was divinely restored. It is not so much to the 
purpose that Joseph was exalted, and decked with 
honor, as that he was restored again to the sorrowing 
Jacob. Many boys have broken the hearts of their 
fathers, and they could have helped it — but Joseph 
could not, he was the child of destiny. Many years 
had passed — but the evil those Hebrew brethren did, 
had not yet been forgotten. How crimes shadow our 
steps ! the evil will come home to us. When standing 
in the presence of the unknown Joseph, and wincing 
under his assumed austerity, they spoke their thoughts 
one to another: “we are verily guilty concerning 
our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, 
when he besought us, and we would not hear ; there- 
fore is this distress come upon us. ’ ’ Revenge is sweet, 
but it is a wise heart that can kiss the hand inflicting 
a wrong, and forgive the deed that has wrought suf- 
fering and injury — because God ordained it for good, 
and wrung the sweet out of the bitter. What a scene, 
when Joseph revealed himself to his astonished breth- 
ren, and wept upon the neck of Benjamin ! What a 


The Young Man of Destiny. 67 

scene when the father Jacob stepped down, from the 
Egyptian wagon that fetched him, and fell into the 
embrace of his long lost son ! He wore not the 
“coat of many colors” on that day, nor would it 
have stirred the envy of the guilty brethren any more 
— he wore the regalia of an Egyptian prince as he led 
Israel into the land of Goshen. Oh ! beautiful family 
reunions ! I love to think of the time, when the 
wagons shall land us on the borders of the heavenly 
Goshen, and the divided streams of home shall come 
together again. 

I want to commend to you, young men, the praise- 
worthy act of Joseph, in presenting his plain old fa- 
ther to the illustrious Pharaoh. Many a son is ashamed 
of his father, just because he may be a little plain and 
old-fashioned. Parents may not have had the advan- 
tages of schools, and the polish of society — but they 
certainly had the good heart to let their sons have 
them. Then, because their hands and backs are 
crooked with toil, in acquiring the means for a son’s 
elevation, some affected children make this the very 
ground for despising them. Be not ashamed of a plain 
Christian father even in the presence of the most 
fastidious royalty. Jacob is more than Pharaoh, 
though the one has a shepherd’s staff, and the other a 
kingly sceptre. Jacob is the chosen patriarch of God. 


68 The igth Century Young Man. 

A funeral procession ! Israel has been embalmed, 
and now is carried back to the land of his fathers. 
Horsemen and chariots are in line — a multitude of 
mourners follow Jacob’s body out of Egypt to the 
land of Caanan. Officered servants of Pharaoh, elders 
of the land, all the house of Joseph, the house of his 
brethren, the house of departed Israel — what a funeral 
procession ! Joseph gave his father a decent burial 
— all worthy sons will emulate his example. At the 
age of an hundred and ten years, he too died, and 
he said : “ God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry 
up my bones from hence.” The cave of Macpelah 
is the end of Joseph — but like the river Nile, the flow 
of his life blesses Egypt to-day. 



VI. 




And among them all was found none like Daniel. — Dan. i : ig. 
'lhen the king made Daniel a great man, and gave him many 
great gifts; and made him ruler over the whole province of 
Babylon, and chief of the governors over all the wise men of 
Babylon . — Daniel 2 : 48. 

f HE Young Man of Office ! 

The political and national seats of power are 
among the most inspiring dreams of ambitious young 
men. The Gladstones and Bismarks and Hamiltons and 
Richelieus of the more modern world have enveloped 
the throne of the diplomat and statesman with daz- 
zling splendor. Looking along the line of the more 
ancient geniuses of government, we find none more 
extraordinary than Daniel. We take interest in the 
rising star of the political world, and we recommend 
all young men who aspire to rulership, high or low, 
to emulate the spirit, character, and consecration of 
Daniel. 


( 6 9 ) 


70 The 19th Century Young Man. 

Born of an aristocratic, if not royal Jewish family ; 
Daniel commingled many natural and circumstantial 
advantages in the shaping of his life’s prospects. The 
armies of Nebuchadnezzar took the lad of fourteen 
years, and carried him a captive to Babylon on the 
Euphrates. He was a prodigy of mental grasp, of 
most excellent physical development, and of great 
culture of manners. These graces captivated the 
Chaldean monarch, and the Hebrew-boy was at once 
inducted into the king’s service. 

Babylon the great ! How like a dreamy oriental 
fancy it seems ! Laving in the favors of the Euphra- 
tes, and entrenching itself within the secure embrace 
of fifty-five miles of massive walls, it stands out as the 
ancient wonder. It bewilders us with its hanging gar- 
dens, its adornments, its palaces, its temples, its riches, 
its military prowess — the “beauty of the Chaldees ex- 
cellency. ’ ’ Immortal city — but doubly immortal be- 
cause Daniel lived within it. How many places are 
distinguished and remembered, only because the lives 
of great and good men have been associated with 
them ! The young man who goes to a city, and a 
city like Babylon ! — is like he who ventures out to 
sea. Storms and raging tempests of sin, strike his in- 
experienced barge ; deep maelstroms of vice envelope 
him, hidden foes fall upon him unawares. Oh ! how 


The Young Man of Office. 71 

can a young man stand in the virtues of his early 
training, with such bewitching sin to tempt him to 
ruin ! Daniel did — study the moral hero. 

There are five important events that stand out in 
Daniel’s life in the “golden city.” His name was 
changed, that was the first. Henceforth he was styled 
Belteshazzar. It naturalized him, but it also meant 
to bury away every thought of the Hebrew God, as 
suggested by the name Daniel, and to instil the faith 
of Chaldean idolatry, as implied by the new name. 
Daniel took the new name, but kept the old religion. 
He might easily have fallen in, and to some advan- 
tage, with the priests of Belus and Beltis — but he aped 
not the fashion of “advanced thought,” he affected 
not the sophisms of heathen science. Our fathers’ 
religion may be a little old-fashioned — but in the end 
it is the best. 

His next test was when the king flattered him 
with a portion of meat and drink from the royal table. 
Daniel had conscientious scruples about that savory 
meat and sparkling wine. The open favor appealed 
loudly to ambition — to cross it might mean the for- 
feiting of great advancement. But the custom of 
the heathen to dedicate to the gods a portion of their 
meats and drinks at the table, might implicate Dan 
iel in conniving at idolatry. The question was — 


72 The 19th Century Young Man. 

whether to please God, or appetite? Some would 
say — “when in Rome, do as the Romans do.” Daniel 
thought not so ; there was nothing slip-shod about his 
religion. Principle lay at the bottom of all his doings, 
however great — however small. 

The third te^t was the task of interpreting the king’s 
wonderful dream of the image. When the sages of 
Chaldean wisdom stood confounded before this mar- 
vellous vision of empire, Daniel divinely revealed it. 
Nebuchadnezzar at once made him governor. His 
star was rising he soon became chancellor of the 
university of wise men, and later rose to high judge 
and prime-minister. But he did not lose his young 
head. Even though the king fell down to worship 
him as a god — he did not forget himself. Power 
makes men great, and often arrogant and self-idoliz- 
ing — but Daniel was noble Daniel still. 

The fourth test was the reading of the hand-writ- 
ing on the wall at Belshazzar’s feast. The Persians 
have besieged the city in a time into which fell the 
annual feast. They must celebrate it — Babylon is 
never thwarted in its pleasures. Through street and 
garden, through open-square and enclosed temple is 
witnessed the proverbial splendor of oriental revelry. 
But Belshazzar has a special banquet. Music keeps 
time to the graceful contortions of costumed maidens 


The Young Man of Office. 


73 


in the dance; perfumes rise from the bronzed altars 
of the palace-courts, the tables laden with plate of 
gold — the bacchanalian carousal wild with untamed 
spirits. The king grows impious, he orders the sa- 
cred vessels, once taken from Jerusalem, to be brought 
from the temple of Bel They are hurried to the 
scene — vessels of gold and silver, bowls and caldrons? 
spoons, knives and cups — the very palladium of the 
Jewish State. The choice wine is poured into the 
thirty charges and thirty vases of gold made for the 
temple of Solomon, and the thousand charges and 
four hundred basins of silver made for Zedekiah, and 
profaned with shameful intoxication. The choruses 
to the king rise in fervor, the enthusiasm increases. 
Suddenly, in fiery letters, is flashed against the wall 
in scriptural hand-writing — “ Mene, Mene, Tekel 
Upharson !” What a sea of alarum then! “Ho! 
ye Chaldeans, ye astrologers and soothsayers — a king- 
dom for your wisdom now. Tell me the hand-writing, 
anyone, and I will deck him with purple, and gold, 
and place a sceptre in his hand!” They knew not. 
The queen-mother suggests to bring Daniel. When 
he stood amid the scene, he saw the cheek of revelry 
blanched, a valorous king horror-stricken, and cringing 
at his feet. How calm this prophet, this preacher ! 
In the presence of outraged Omnipotence, how strong 


74 


The igth Century Young Man. 


is that man whose conscience is clear, whose heart is 
clean ! When lords and princes and kings are un- 
manned — how blessed the nation that has Daniels at 
the helm ! He pronounces the sentence, and leaves 
the reckless and vain-glorious king to his doom. 

“ Belshazzar’s grave is made, 

His kingdom passed away. 

He, in the balanced weigh’d, 

Is light and worthless clay ; 

The shroud, his robe of state ; 

His canopy the stone. 

The Mede is at his gate, 

The Persian on his throne.” 

The last great test was the envy that drove him in- 
to the lion’s den. Under Darius, we find Daniel the 
Medo-Persian prime-minister. A weakling of a king, 
even a discerning bad one, will always prefer a ser- 
vant of sterling integrity. Daniel was the chastening 
rod to all dishonest aspirants in the kingdom. How 
the false politicians and official tricksters, and the 
army of under-presidents and princes hated him ! 
Envy got to work, and dark plottings began. Was 
there ever yet a man in office, however good and pure, 
who escaped the envy and calumny of rival com- 
peers ? All the hellish machinery was set at going, 
and Babylonian’s prime-minister had his history dis- 


The Young Man of Office. 


) 5 


torted, his character besmirched, his name blackened. 
He landed in the lion’s den. But when morning came, 
Darius broke the signet of the seal, rolled away the 
stone before the den — and there lay Daniel asleep, 
and in peace, upon the shaggy mane of the ferocious 
beast. A good man in office may be defamed and 
entrapped by evil plotters — in the end God will vindi- 
cate and. revenge him. The wicked shall fall into 
their own pit. 

Let us discover the leading qualities of Daniel’s 
character, and recommend them to all seekers of pub- 
lic office. 

He had a noble spirit in him. So it is declared in 
chapter 6, and 3d verse. He was endowed with great 
moral excellence, loftiness of character, and dignity 
of bearing. In him from youth up there was the dis- 
position to act fairly with every one, and to be hon- 
orable in all his dealings. As a young man in train- 
ing with the eunuch, he made good use of his time, 
improved his mind, and showed, by the faithful dis- 
charge of all his duties, that he had the spirit of a 
good and great man in him. A noble young man ! 
— we say. We do not so particularly mean that he 
is of noble birth. Blood will tell, we know — especial- 
ly bad blood. Though he came of the very best of 
families, Daniel’s nobility was more than rank. This 


7 6 The igth Century Young Man. 

outward caste counts naught before God. Those who 
think that social position, wealth and family influence 
alone make character, fall short of the measure of 
genuine nobility. It is not affected nobility which 
we see, and which is nothing more than snobbism, 
that belonged to Daniel — it was the fine spirit in the 
young man. In office this consecrated genius frowned 
down all state intrigue, all political chicanery — official 
integrity and probity were written upon all his public 
and private measures. Oh ! for Daniels in the seats 
of power to-day, to give us purity of ballot and puri- 
ty of legislation. While administrators of authority 
peculated and were bribed — Daniel never took a dis- 
honest dollar from the king’s treasury, he never sold 
his influence for gold or silver. 

He had manly independence. The sycophant and 
the toady, are found among the courtiers of the king’s 
palace, as well as in the ranks of the underling. No 
obsequious parasite or mean flatterer was Daniel. He 
sought not priest r.or king with soft words, he did not 
build up personal influence by insinuating slanders — 
he stood squarely upon his own merit. Says Dryden 
— “ a sycophant will everything admire. ” The il- 
lustrious Hebrew was no partner to crime or a lie — 
yet he was modest with it all. He raved not at Baby- 
lon’s ways, and bore no insult to the king when un- 


The Young Man of Office. 


77 


just, or wicked, or rejected of Heaven. He did not 
pompously parade his religion, decry the priest, and 
rail with taunts at the base idolatries of the Chaldeans. 
He made no damaging comparisons between the 
temple of Baal and the Zion of Jehovah — he was 
courteous — a perfect gentleman. The oily suavity 
of the politician lined not his seat of power— he held 
his place with dignity of demeanor, and by manly in- 
dependence. 

He had true moral courage. Daniel dared to do 
right. There is not a nobler spectacle to behold 
under the heavens than this — a young man, who in 
the face of blandishing offers of sinful gain and power, 
will heed the voice of a better conscience, set his foot 
firmly on the earth, and give a decided — No ! There 
is too much the spirit of accommodation among 
all men, and especially among those who are the 
servants of state. In the face of better knowledge 
and truer belief — they will sell out manhood and 
honor for the most trifling advantage. Behold the 
moral hero ! What courage was that, when the He- 
brew lad, who had his future to make, brushed aside 
the flattering proffers of the king, and indulged not 
in the idolatrous meat and drink ! What courage 
was that, when called before Nebuchadnezzar, he 
dared to turn the dream against the despot, and tell 


7 8 The 19 th Century Young Man. 

him that he should eat grass with the oxen in the field, 
and have feathers like an eagle, and claws like a bird ? 
What courage was that, when he interpreted the fiery 
letters upon the wall, and told the bloody Belshazzar 
that his kingdom shall be taken from him ? What 
courage was that, when he defied the decree of a thou- 
sand-forked envy, that no man dare pray to any god 
but the ignoble Belshazzar for thirty days, and he went 
to his closet to pray to his God three times a day ? 
Ah ! this is the stuff out cf which the heroes are made 
— the Pauls and Luthers and Knoxes, and all such 
mighty men who lift up nations to glory and to power. 

He never forgot his friends. Daniel was not an in- 
grate. No sooner made governor, he prayed the king 
for his three companions who had helped to implore 
God for Daniel’s success. Shadrack, Meshack and 
Abednego were likewise placed into office. Never go 
back on your true and tried friends. The men who 
seek public office are the Lord Chesterfields of the age. 
They seek the hand-shake of the humblest, bow with 
the most patronizing air to every labor-stained face 
that passes, and are most prodigal in their attentions 
and promises to faithful friends — but often, when 
crowned with success they forget those who have 
helped them to it. The man of office has a right to 


The Young Man of Office. 79 

reward his tried friends. Gratitude is sweet every- 
where, but — 

“ Blow, blow, thou winter wind, 

Thou art not so unkind 
As man’s ingratitude.” 

He was a patriot. A Jew once — a Jew always. 
No preferment of great Babylon could make him for- 
get his humbled Jerusalem. When at last the de- 
spondent Hebrews hung their harps upon the willows, 
and sat down upon the banks of the Euphrates to 
weep — Daniel wept too. He daily thought of the 
restoration of his exiled people. He daily entered 
his chamber, opened the window toward his beloved 
Jerusalem, and prayed in the direction of the Holy 
Hill. Oh ! sweet was the thought of Zion, his boy- 
hood home, and his father’s religion. We want 
Christian patriots in office. That patriotism is best 
which is grounded in the Christian religion, which 
draws its inspiration from the belief that God guides 
the nation. We want men of office, who adorn our 
country and who bear influence into every land. Why 
do we say of Washington — “ first in war, first in peace, 
and first in the hearts of his countrymen ? ” — a Chris- 
tian patriot. Why do we wreath the brow of Lincoln 
in the halo of immortality? — a Christian patriot. 


8o The igth Century Young Man. 

Why do we deck the grave of Garfield, with fragrant 
garlands? — a Christian patriot. 

He was a 7nan of God. Has a young man made 
himself fit, God uses him as a consecrated force. He 
first finds his vessels, and are they found, He then 
uses them. Oh ! to be a consecrated vessel ! To be 
chosen out of the great mass of humanity to serve the 
age by illustrious means, and in exalted places! 
Young man, how would you like to start in life? 
“ With cash — with ready cash ! ** you instantly reply. 
I despise not your answer — but more than ready 
money, bonds, stocks or lands, is principle. When 
done with life — what would you have the world to 
praise you for — what you have or what you are ? Ah ! 
then to have it said — “he was noble and good !” 
Daniel stood amid the dazzling glory of Babylon, hon- 
ored as President, Judge, Governor, and Prime-minis- 
ter, and despite the blandishments of office, the sin 
of a city, and the envy of all the princes of the land 
— he was noble and good. 



VII. 



Stan of 


justness. 


And he said, appoint me thy wages and I will give it. — Gen. 
30 : 28. 

And the man increased exceedingly, and had much cattle, 
and maidservants, and menservants and camels and asses. — 
Gen. 30 : 43. 

f HE Young Man of Business ! 

It has been said somewhat disparagingly, “ Abra- 
ham was a gentleman, but Jacob was a Jew.” It must 
be conceded, that among the most successful business 
men of the world are to be classed the descendants 
of this ancient Israelite. They are good at driving a 
bargain, but Jacob also stands as the model of com- 
mercial integrity, and from such ethics most of the 
Jews, and many merchants in general, have largely 
departed. 

Good and bad business principles we find in Jacob’s 
life. Their counterparts we discover in the commer- 
6 (81) 


82 The 19th Century Young Man. 

cial dealings of to-day. The unfair bargains that he 
made with his brother Esau, drove him out of his 
home and native land, and caused him to dwell among 
strangers in Haran. His early trickery and decep- 
tion haunted him everywhere, and he was constantly 
afraid of his life. 

The first great hit of Jacob in bargain-making was 
a corner in pottage. In the language of the trades- 
man’s code we would style him “shrewd” for this 
lucky hit. But a man who is shrewd, and nothing 
more, understands all the twists of trickery and dis- 
honesty. The covetous heart rested on the birth- 
right of Esau, the honored privileges of the first- 
born. When the cunning hunter came back, one 
day, from his empty snares, fainting and hungry, 
Jacob had planted himself outside the tent, stirring 
his oriental coffee. The savory pot steamed, and 
Esau was tempted to the worst. The younger brother 
had the monopoly of the goods, and he forced the 
first-born into a bargain — “sell me this day thy birth- 
right. Swear to me this day.” He had made a “ cor- 
ner ” on pottage. It was the same speculative shrewd- 
ness that drives Wall Street to-day. It is considered a 
brilliant achievement when some one manipulator can 
force the market to the wall, and squeeze out a whole 
badge of adventurers. The tobacco 'merchants of 


The Young Man of Business. S3 

New York have anticipated the tariff-bill, and have, 
in the past week, made a corner in the Sumatra leaf. 
It is a great sin to gamble on food. This is the dark 
blot on Jacob’s escutcheon. ‘ Old Hutch, ” as he is 
sneer ingly remembered, cornered the wheat-market, 
and squeezed millions out of the poor bread winners. 

This trick of Jacob was very naturally followed by 
another most fraudulent transaction. He took a 
mean advantage of his blind father, who expected to 
bless Esau, his first-born, when he would return from 
the hunt, and bring him a steaming stew of venison. 
Jacob had his mother to make a mock-soup out of 
kids — in fact his mother instigated it. Mothers may 
often be the fault of wrong business principles in boys. 
As Esau smelled of the fields, and was hairy, Jacob 
dressed up in his brother’s clothes, and put parts of 
the soft skin of the slain kids over his hands, neck 
and face. So he carried the palatable stew in to his 
father. The aged Patriarch felt him, blessed him — 
and ate the venison. Jacob laid on the counter false 
goods — he represented the meat of kids to be savory 
venison, and so cheated his brother out of a father’s 
dying blessing. He grossly misrepresented goods 
when he covered his hands with kid-skins, and palmed 
himself off as hairy Esau. One of the sins of the 
modern business-man is, the sham imitation of su- 


84 The igth Century Young Man. 

perior goods, and the flagrant misrepresentation of 
inferior goods. 

The next bargain Jacob made was down in Haran 
— he stood apprentice for a wife. In that day a man 
bought the partner of his life — it was often more a 
business than a love-contract. The bargain for a 
wife is generally the most fortunate hit in a young 
business man’s life. Frequently too it is an invest- 
ment in dead and cumbersome goods. Stock-raising 
was the business of the east Jacob had now gotten 
into the hands of a crafty, miserly bargain-driver, and 
he was paid back in his own coin. During fourteen 
years he was a wage-earner for beautiful Rachael. 
The Young Hebrew, however, had changed his code 
of business-transactions, and he had become an hon- 
est, honorable, yet sagacious manipulator of trade. 
The grasping Laban was blessed with increasing wealth, 
because of Jacob. A business-firm does well to have 
Christian clerks — they are the leaven of riches. How 
many merchants do like Laban ; they take a mean 
advantage of faithful young men in their employ, 
cheat them even out of contracts honorably made. 

Jacob made a happy venture in his last business 
bargain. After his fourteen years of love-wages had 
transpired, he was willing to stay with Laban on the 
condition that he would let him have for his service, 


The Young Man of Business. 85 

all the ring-stroked, speckled and spotted of the cattle, 
sheep, and goats that might be born. In this con- 
tract he laid the foundation of great wealth. In six 
years he was Laban’s rival. He made the best of a 
fair bargain, and though the miserly Laban changed 
the contract ten times, the shrewd business resources 
of Jacob surmounted every obstacle. The way the 
speckeled cattle increased was marvellous ! Many peo- 
ple fail in life, because they don’t understand their 
business. If a man has learned a trade let him stick 
to it. Be willing, like Jacob, to stand an apprentice- 
ship, and when you thoroughly understand your call- 
ing, then make your venture. This eagerness of 
young men to get into business before they have learn- 
ed it, is a great mistake ; and the spirit of changeful- 
ness in business employments when things don’t go fast 
enough at first, is an equally great mistake. “A 
chicken, trying to swim with some ducks, complained 
of the world. ‘The world is all right,’ replied the 
ducks, ‘ if you adjust yourself to it : Keep in your 
element, the land, and not ours, which is satisfactory 
to us.” If the cobbler goes beyond his shoes, he 
fails. Jacob found the calling he was adapted to, he 
stuck to it, “ and the man increased exceedingly, and 
had much cattle, and men-servants, and camels, and 


86 The igth Century Young Man. 

Have a business-motto. Young man, there is noth- 
ing that will serve so much as a guiding star in your 
life, as some maxim or watchword. How frequently 
have books impressed you with an impelling influ- 
ence to great and glorious accomplishments. Schlie- 
mann could never shake off the shaping powers of 
Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey when first listening to 
their story, as a boy. They made him the discoverer 
of the ruins of Troy. Proverbs is pre-eminently the 
book for business-men. As a first-reader in the schools 
of Scotland, it made that people sharp and crisp of 
speech, and infused into their very bones the spirit of 
industry. A business-motto even more than a book, 
has the tendency to lay the foundation of character 
and fortune. Some men guage all their life and trans- 
actions by such a watchword— -they appeal to it as their 
supreme judge for every undertaking and accomplish- 
ment of life. 

When Jacob built his stone-altar at the foot of the 
angel-ladder, he adopted over it his motto of life : 
“ All that thou shalt give me, I will surely give the 
tenth unto thee.” That should be the watchword of 
every consecrated business-man. Even Satan has har- 
nessed his maxims and turns them to use. Upon one 
of his banners he has incribed : “ Every man has his 
price.” Upon another he has written: “with might there 


The Young Man of Business. 87 

is right.” Charles Reade has given the title to one of 
his books — “ Put yourself in his place.” This might 
be a good motto for the merchant as he deals with his 
customer. The Rothschilds adopted as their watch- 
word — “Be cautious, but bold.” Others of financial 
success in the world had as their watchword — “ What 
is worth doing at all, is worth doing well ” — “ Business 
before pleasure ” — “ Never fail to keep a promise ” — 
“ Buy nothing unnecessary, however cheap ” — “ Meet 
every engagement to the minute.” John Randolph 
found the philosopher’s stone in the maxim — “ Pay as 
you go. ’ ’ Ruskin had before him constantly his motto 
inscribed on a massive piece of chalcedony — “ To- 
Day.” Wanamaker’s secret is — “Pay attention to 
detail,” and quotes the proverb: “For want of a 
nail the shoe was lost, for want of a shoe the horse 
was lost.” My motto is that of Paul’s — “This one 
thing I do.” We scatter our talents and forces too 
much. Concentration gathers wisdom, and power of 
execution. One of Wesley’s mottos reads : 

“ Make all you can honestly; 

Save all you can prudently ; 

Spend all you can possibly.” 

Cultivate the elements of success. I think one of 
the secrets of Jacob’s success lay in the fact that he 
inspired confidence. Unfortunately there is found 


88 The igth Century Young Man. 

something in very many young men that spoils all 
their chances right from the beginning. The saying 
goes around, “What can you expect from him !” He 
is not frank, his manners are not attractive, and some- 
how his face tells you that he cannot be trusted. 
Laban had all confidence in Jacob, and he allowed 
him to dictate his own contract : “ Appoint me thy 
wages, and I will give it.” 

Then Jacob was industrious and he stuck closely 
to business. With the dew of the morning he was 
out managing his flocks, he was ever busy devising 
plans to enlarge his estate. Industry is the corner- 
stone of all success. I pity the young man who has 
been puffed up with the conceit that he is a “genius.” 
This class is first to go down in failure. Genius is 
loath to work, and it has a hard road to travel. Work ! 
work! — joyful diligence and steady effort will outstrip 
the stride of the most brilliant genius. It is work 
that has struck the rude marble, and fashioned into 
shape the beautiful angel ; it is work that touched the 
blank canvas and breathed upon it the sweetness of a 
Madonna ; it is work that blasted in the quarry and 
reared into architectural grandeur the mighty cathe- 
drals ; it is work that wielded the axe, and shaped the 
oak into beams of ships and bridges ; it is work that 
transformed the buried metal into pealing bells and 


The Young Man of Business. 


89 


sweet-toned organs ; it is work that made your De- 
mosthenes and Websters, your Cromwells and Wash- 
ingtons, your Pauls and Luthers, your Columbuses and 
Stanleys, your Burkes and Hamiltons ; your Spur- 
geons and Beechers ; your Coopers and Stewarts — it is 
work that leads to success. 

It is not necessary that the young man of to-day 
go through the school of hard experience to learn the 
secrets of success. Out of the history of the great 
and useful men, learn the elements that made them. 
I would recommend four prerequisites for all callings 
of life — character, industry, perseverance, prayer. 
Men differ in their methods as character indicates 
and business demands. In this day wide-awake at- 
tention is necessary, and seizing the right opportunity 
is one of the essentials to success. In business as in 
everything else, Shakespeare’s saying applies : “ There 
is a tide in the affairs of men that taken at the flood 
leads on to fortune.” Many miss it because they do 
not “ strike while the iron is hot.” The time comes 
for us all, when we must say, “ Now or never.” 

Do business on Christian principles . If Jacob had 
consulted his God in the start of life, as he did later 
on, concerning the methods of business, he might 
have enjoyed his possessions with greater comfort. 
Said a young man coming to a large city : “ I pro- 


90 The igth Century Young Man. 

pose to carry on business on Christian principles.” 
“You shall have very little competition here” — re- 
plied the senior merchant. Knowing the conventional 
falsehoods afloat in the commercial world, the under- 
hand trickery, deception and misrepresentation li- 
censed in almost daily transactions, the young man 
most naturally halts to ask : “ How can I be in busi- 
ness, and be a Christian?” This question is asked 
in the factory, in the store, in the livery stable, in 
the lawyer’s office, and callings of diversified charac- 
ter. From Sunday into Monday is a short step — but 
the prayer in the temple and the bargain in the store 
must not be at variance. Short measure on the coun- 
ter, scanty weight in the ware-house, injured goods 
from the cellar must pass at their true value. 

But religion in business matters has its rightful place 
and rule. The Bible is a pilot to the ship of com- 
merce, and a help to every merchant of whatever 
kind. It refers frequently to real estate and invest- 
ments, and profit and loss, and agricultural success, 
and foreign trade, and tax collections and fraudulent 
transactions, and righteous wealth. The cause of re- 
ligion is helped by business, and business is helped by 
religion. No wall of partition ought to be raised be- 
tween them. It would be well for the church to util- 
ize some of the methods of business, and not only 


The Young Man of Business. 


9i 

accept its profits. The secret of success to business 
lies hid in the wise precepts and noble safeguards of 
the Bible. Ask the men of great success in the mer- 
cantile world, what the chief elements were that lifted 
them up. Very few will tell you that their fortunes 
were built-up on lying and cheating. Permanent 
wealth does not grow from such rotten stumps, it draws 
sap from the live, healthy tree. Spurious wealth al- 
ways has a curse to follow it — and seldom it survives 
beyond the second generation. It is a pleasure to 
note how many men of fortune, are religious men. 
Not only are the nations, which are imbued with Chris- 
tianity, foremost in the arts, in learning, and in indus- 
try, but also the individuals, who believed and prayed, 
are pre eminently the inventors of revolutionizing in- 
struments in the mercantile world. The business 
man who regularly attends church will be so mentally 
quickened, and morally strengthened, that it will be 
an ease and a pleasure to make money. Honesty is the 
corner-stone of business success, notwithstanding the 
Quaker’s advice to his boy : “ My son make money — 

honestly if thee can — anyhow make money.” Integ 
rity has a commercial value even in the most corrupt 
market. A business on religious principles has the 
blessing of God. 

Ho w to fail in business. Let me say to you, young 


92 The igth Century Young Man. 

man, there is much success abroad that is a down- 
right failure. Men have attained their purposes, but 
what were their purposes? Their place up there is 
all shimmer on the outside, a real counterfeit within. 
Any gigantic schemes accomplished, that afterwards 
make you afraid of men, and disturb your peace and 
give you remorse — is no success. A mountain of 
money, just because it is a mountain, can’t atone for 
the wrongs it is built on. That man, who daily car- 
ries a dinner-pail to his work, and eats his meals 
with a good conscience and a peaceful heart, is more 
of a success. 

The first step to failure in business, is bad company. 
Find a young man starting out in his commercial 
career with bad associates, and his story is soon told. 
The next step is the spirit of speculation in the line 
of gambling. This is the age of stock-gambling, 
and many of our young merchants are getting en- 
tangled in outside operations. They are dissatisfied 
with the slow profits of a legitimate business, venture 
in uncertain investments, fail and are sold out sooner 
than told. The next step is extravagance. It is a 
safe rule, always to spend a little less than you earn. 
But, the young men of to-day live too much beyond 
their income. They foolishly presume on the in- 
creased profits of to-morrow which never come. 


The Young Man of Business . 93 

Emerson says: “The secret of success lies never in 
the amount of money, but in the relation of income 
to outgo.” Other vices and habits help to the down- 
ward road, but they are the outgrowth of these three 
mistakes of life. Failures in business sometimes have 
a softening side to their history, and legitimate ex- 
cuses stand in their favor. Men have honorably re- 
covered from their reverses, paid all their debts, as 
Jacob tried to amend to Esau, and stood higher in 
the role of credit than ever before. Failures have 
been the foundation of success to some men, whose 
energies were renewed tenfold, and sagacious watch- 
fulness rekindled a hundred-fold. But credit once 
broken is like china-ware once broken. It may be 
repaired, but it is never quite whole. The mended 
crack ever stares customers in the face. Men who 
give their hearts to God in youth are no failures in 
life. 

Business ! What a grand sphere of action for young 
men ! How its mighty energies move the world, and 
hold the entire globe suspended as in a net-work ! 
Every artery of progress is stimulated by the potent 
forces of business ; every ambition of man quickened 
by the daily prizes it holds before him. How the 
cities mass in phalanxes of business-houses — beautiful 
piles of architecture ! How the thoroughfares teem 


94 The iyth Century Young Man. 

with the ebb and tide of trade ! How the hills are 
pierced, rivers spanned, and valleys crossed, with the 
steaming stride of pushing markets ! How the emer- 
ald highways of the seas smile with rush of commerce 
— all the earth is aglow with the life-stirring enthu- 
siasm of business. To be a business-man in this age 
is a great privilege — and to be a Christian merchant 
is one of the crowns of truest manhood. 



VIII. 



And Jonathan caused David to swear again, because he loved 
him : for he loved him as he loved his own soul. — / Samuel 
no : if. 

f HE Young Man as a Friend ! 

Prince Jonathan would soon have been forgot- 
ten, but that he was the friend of David What a 
sweet romance — this loving attachment between these 
two youths in ancient Israel! “The soul of Jona- 
than was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan 
loved him as his own soul.” There is nothing in the 
modern works of fiction like it. The song and story 
of Greece, with all their spirit of stoic heroism, have 
not celebrated a devotion as beautiful at this. Pelo- 
pidas and Epaminondas locked their shields together 
in the battle against the Arcadians. With seven 
wounds Pelopidas fell, but Epaminondas was willing 
to die rather than leave his comrade to the power of 

( 95 ) 


96 The ipth Century Young Man. 

the enemies. Pierced and slashed with deadly wea- 
pons, he stemmed the tide until both were delivered. 
Detracting naught from such a binding companion- 
ship as this, it must be remembered that the spur 
came from the law and precepts of the nation, which 
taught that it was a crime to be anything else but 
brave. It was no attachment like that of Jonathan 
and David. Damon and Pythias, those two disciples 
of Pythagoras, can lay some claim to the semblance 
of an equal friendship. 

Next to religion, the finest sentiment in the earth, 
is friendship. Love is the noblest of the affections, 
but friendship is the sweet improvement of love. 
What a charm to social life ! The conversation of a 
well-chosen friend is like the genial fire-grate to a 
shivering man on a numb-cold night. It thaws him 
out. How the mind clears and expands ! How the 
heart unfolds in virtuous feelings ! How dull time 
takes its flight, and hours of honeyed joys come in- 
stead ! A letter from a friend thrills us with eager 
anticipations, whilst another reads only like cold busi- 
ness-type. Thank God for friends both old and new. 
Blessed is the home that shelters a discreet and virtu- 
ous friend. 

Jonathan and David were thrown together, almost 
constantly, in the king’s palace. The young prince, 


The Young Man as a Friend. 97 

of heroic heart himself, saw how good and brave and 
true David was — and he loved him. “ The only way 
to have a friend, is to be one ” — David also showed 
himself a “ friend more divine than all divinities.” 
Four touching incidents occurred in Jonathan’s de- 
voted defense of David. How adroit and sweetly- 
engaging was the young prince, when he took his fa- 
ther aside to the field, and pleaded for the life of the 
brave Bethlehemite ! How soul-stirring when out 
under the open sky these twain swear in a binding 
compact, always to be friends, come what will ! How 
thrilling the scene, when Saul missing David at the 
royal table, threw a javelin at Jonathan for apologiz- 
ing for his absence ! What tender solicitude was 
betokened, when after this deadly assault of an en- 
raged king, the prince hastens to the fields with his 
lad to give the signal of danger to his comrade ! 
Only love can devise such plans of rescue. He shoots 
arrows from his bow. If they fall this side the Ezel 
stone where David hides, that is the sign of safety. 
If he shoots beyond the stone, his comrade is to 
“ make speed, haste, stay not. ” The lad has gathered 
the arrows beyond the stone — he is dismissed. Then 
Jonathan and David meet in a parting scene. They 
fall on each other’s neck, weep and kiss. They linger 
in sweet embrace, as lovers would, and are loath to 


7 


98 The igth Century Young Man. 

say — farewell. Jonathan can return to his friends, 
the king’s court, and God’s temple — but David must 
hide in caves. Set the altar before mine eyes. Let 
it be overladen with gold, and deeply engraven with 
the heart’s purest sentiments. Let the clouds part, 
and in the effulgence of heavenly glory, let the angels 
come down to surround this symbol of beauty. En- 
twine this altar with flowers, wreath it with immor- 
telles, and from amid all its enchanting glory, let there 
flash out in bold relief, the impassionate thought — 
Friendship ! 

He was a royal friend. This is the first thing I 
have to say of Jonathan. Ought not David to have 
felt himself flattered when a noble prince became so 
passionately fond of him ? Not only royal in rank 
was he, but royal in friendship. What sort of com- 
panions might Jesse’s little shepherd-boy have expect- 
ed ? Surely it was a great friendship when a prince 
of Saul’s house cemented his soul with that of humble 
David. A royal friendship ! No other ought to be 
accepted by you. He who would aspire to enter the 
sacred realm of such feelings, let him be of regal 
bearing, and his expressions of love be noble and 
sincere. Our bosom companions ought always to be 
of royal extraction. Seek your friend among the 
prudent, wise, and godly. 


The Young Man as a Friend. 99 

“ On the choice of friends 

Our good and evil name depends.” 

Says Solon : “ Procure not friends in haste, and 
when thou hast a friend, part not with him in haste.” 

There are very many acquaintances, but few real 
friends. Some one upbraided Socrates for building 
his house in Athens so small. He replied that he 
should consider himself sufficiently accommodated if 
he could see that narrow habitation filled with real 
friends. Multitudes crowded around him — some from 
vanity, some from veneration — but out of them all 
he expected only a little houseful of those, who might 
be attached to him in steady fidelity. 

Friendship is not simply a sweet-scented philan- 
thropy, it is even more than a refined and subtle sen- 
timent that binds hearts together in similar labors and 
experiences. Two souls are mysteriously drawn to- 
gether by congenial tastes, and agree at once in the 
same aspirations for the noble and the good — having 
the same common end in view, which both love better 
than themselves. Jonathan and David by the law of 
election, as it were, sealed their hearts one upon the 
other. Emerson must have had in view this friend- 
ship, when he so beautifully analyzed the two elements 
that go to make its composition. As by instinct they 
let down the plummet to sound the depth of their 


ioo The igth Century Young Man. 

union, and each found in the other the solid rock of 
truth, and the swelling undercurrent of tenderness. 
You want a friend with whom you need not use dis- 
simulation ; but throwing aside the guise of courtesy, 
meet him with open sincerity. 

True friendship is drawn by love — my chosen com- 
panion must be dear to me. Is it possible that such a 
sacred bond can subsist between man and woman? 
The ancients spoke a great deal of platonic love , an 
attachment wholly spiritual and without carnal desire. 
Nothing in history is so chaste and so divinely beauti- 
ful as the friendship-ties between the rich Paula, and 
the Saint Jerome. There was a dear friendship be- 
tween Christ and Lazarus’ sisters. Friendship be- 
tween woman and woman, is however only a suspen- 
sion of hostilities, whilst the friendship between man 
and man is always more vigorous and enduring. The 
little barge of woman sails among many shoals and 
quicksands — she shipwrecks friendships too easily on 
her loves and jealousies. Man is not the creature of 
sentiment and affection like woman. Being of sterner 
stuff, with the endowment of more sinewy qualities, 
he plants his loves and friendships more in adaman- 
tine rock. The Jonathans and Davids have their 
“ souls knit together.” 

He was a friend in need. This is the second thing 


The Young Man as a Friend. 


IOI 


I have to say of Jonathan. Twice he saved David’s 
life out of the bloody hands of Saul. But dark adver- 
sity comes not of physical dangers alone — the heart, 
in all its sad moods and contrary experiences, needs 
the soothing refreshment of friendship ! “No friend’s 
a friend till he shall prove a friend.” Says Theo- 
phrastus : “ True friends visit us in prosperity when 
invited, but in adversity they come without invita- 
tion.” 

“ Who is a friend like me? ” said the shadow to 
the body. “Do I not follow you wherever I go? 
Sunlight or moonlight I never forsake you.” 

“ It is true,” said the body; “you are with me in 
sunlight and moonlight, but where are you when 
neither sun nor moon shines upon me ? The true 
friend abides with us in darkness.” 

Yes, when prosperity smiles upon us, and we can 
dispense favor and money, the parasites are devoted 
and thrust their servile fawns upon us. But let the 
golden props be knocked out from under us, and all 
the halo of worldly influence be lifted away from us, 
and our handshake be empty of earthly emolument — 
how changed the heart of the fickle sycophant. Tell 
me not that adversity is always a loss and a grievous 
burden. It helps to discover your true friends, and 
in that is great gain. He who has a true friend has a 


102 


The 19th Century Young Man. 


fortune. Adversity is like the fan to the heap of 
wheat — which separates the chaff from the kernel — it 
separates flattery from genuine devotion. How soon, 
in our time of need, may we discover that some friends 
have loved our prosperity and not our virtues ! O for 
friends, whom the fitful changes, and the cold blasts 
of time, can never alter ! 

Even a true friend, like Jonathan’s bow, can be 
spanned only so far — beyond that it breaks. The 
abuse of the gracious offices of friendship lie in the 
unreasonable demands made upon it. Some people, 
who have friends, are forever in need, just because 
they have friends. For endorsements, and money- 
loans and recommendations, and helps out of scrapes 
— and lifts of all kinds, they call upon these kind as- 
sociates of their life. How many have become help- 
less dependents because of friends who always stand 
ready to assist ! We want some companion in life 
who makes us do what we can. You can’t be an ob- 
ject of pity in friendship, and hold inviolate the man- 
liness of the bonds. My friend gives, and indicates 
the way of self-help. I take, and in silence toil to 
maintain the virtues that first discovered me to my 
friend. 

The hour of sorrow comes to all. There is no 
need, so keenly felt, as that which affects the heart. 


The Young Man as a Friend. 103 

When gloom has set upon me, and the song of my 
soul has ceased — then comes my friend like a ray of 
light shot through the darkened cloud. He speaks, 
and his voice is like a well-tuned lute. How sweet 
his discourse ! You feel, that such a lute no change 
of weather can alter. You are sure that you can give 
it almost any reasonable stretch and it will still keep 
its pitch. What a thrill of tenderness lies in the story 
of Sergeant Hubert, and his devotion to Napoleon ! 
When the Emperor had been buried at St. Helena, 
all the household sadly embarked for Europe. But 
Hubert would not. For nineteen years he stood 
daily guard over the solitary tomb, and when removed 
to the banks of the Seine, beneath the dome of the 
Invalides, the devoted servant and friend followed the 
remains. 

He was a covenant friend. This is the third thing 
I have to say of Jonathan. The prince sealed his 
love with a token — he stripped himself of the insig- 
nia of office and superior rank, and gave it over to 
David. “That thou mayest know that I love thee, 
here take my royal mantle and my girdle,” Jonathan 
seemed to say. He likewise unbuckled his sword 
and removed his famous bow, and handing them may 
have said — “these also thou brave one, must have.” 
It was almost a sacramental union. Sacred are the 


104 


The igth Century Young Man. 


ties of friendship. As you enter a holy shrine with 
bared head and reverent step, so pass over the 
threshold of friendship. Enter its hallowed precincts 
with feelings refined and exalted. There is no palace 
equipped like this. The temples reared to God are 
holy, and the home of friendship is a mansion let 
down from Heaven. Enter, and see, and hear, and 
enjoy. Where friendship is enthroned, a charm radi- 
ates that is the wine of purest joy. Hast thou joy 
already — here it will be enhanced. Hast thou sorrow 
— here it will be assuaged, and all trouble taken away. 
O ! it is sweet to sit within the exhilarating glow of 
pure friendship. 

But the friendship of the wicked is uncertain. A 
companionship based upon the interchange of corrup- 
tion and falsehood cannot live. Distrust follows in its 
wake. There is a holy friendship and a worldly friend - 
ship. Confucius says : “ There are three friendships 
which are advantageous, and three which are injuri- 
ous. Friendship with the upright; friendship with 
the sincere ; and friendship with the man of observa- 
tion ; these are advantageous. Friendship with the 
man of specious airs; friendship with the insinuating- 
ly soft ; and friendship with the glib-tongued : these 
are injurious.” Scripture says: “ The friendship of 
the world is enmity with God ” Like the honey of 


The Young Man as a Friend. 105 

Heraclea which tastes bitter in the end, so is worldly 
friendship. It may dazzle for awhile with its flatteries 
and fair promises — at last it will turn into the bitter- 
ness of all enmity. It was a holy friendship — this 
between Jonathan and David. It was a sacred prom- 
ise, that come what will, the tie shall never fail. 
Broken friendships ! I see them lying about. What 
pitiful ruins ! The time may come when the sacred 
hall will be invaded by ruthless hands, and harsh feel- 
ings of my changed friend may grate, and shout in 
angry tones. Alas! it is only too true; “Friend- 
ships, like broken vessels, can be repaired — but they 
can never be fully restored.” A good man is the 
best friend, covenant with him — “ let there be truth 
between us two forevermore.” How well it might be 
applied to our prince and his Bethlehem comrade : 

“ ’Twas sung, how they were lovely in their lives, 

And in their death had not divided been.” 

He was a disinterested friend. This is the last 
thing I have to say of Jonathan. What a disrobing 
this was when he said: “Thou shalt be king in 
Israel, and I shall be next to thee.” Surely he gave 
to David the sword and the sceptre. Some one has 
intimated, that “ our very best friends have a tincture 
of jealousy even in their friendship : and when they 
hear us praised by others, will ascribe it to sinister 


io6 The 19th Century Young Man. 

and interested motives if they can.” But Jonathan 
divested himself of all jealousy, and in the spirit of 
self-sacrifice yielded the throne to him to whom God 
had given it. Was it not much to give away, even 
for a friend — but such was the friendship that shall 
stand as the purest human-type for all ages. David’s 
joy was his, and David’s sorrow grieved him equally 
much. My friend is my second self. There are no 
pleasures that I can rightly enjoy except he share 
them ; there are no burdens that he must shoulder, 
that I am not willing to divide with him. 

How purely mercenary some friends ! They use 
me like a buttonhole bouquet — once the freshness out, 
they throw me away. But a true friend is forever a 
friend, and he is worth all the hazards we can run. 
How touching the parting of Jonathan with David 
on the field ! By the Ezel stone they embraced in 
anguish of soul, whilst the lambs gamboled beyond 
them, the birds sang around them, the insects chirped 
beneath them, and the sun shone unconcerned above 
them. Well might the prince have said : 

“ O my friend ! 

We twain have met like the ships upon the sea, 

Who hold an hour’s converse, so short, so sweet ; 

One little hour ! and then, away they speed 
On lonely paths, through mist, and cloud, and foam, 

To meet no more.” 


The Young Man as a Friend. 107 

There is one Friend. Pre-eminently speaking, there 
is one Friend — “who sticketh closer than a brother.” 
How the Autumn leaves do fall ! Even those which 
sheltered my door forsake me, and leave my thresh- 
old exposed and bare. Thick and fast they fall — the 
beautiful leaves. So goes the friendship of the world. 
Often when you think it most beautiful, some frost 
of strange feeling comes and bites it to death. Even 
so go all my joys and comforts of life. Then, I must 
make sure — I must have the one great and true Friend, 
who ever abides. Jesus, thou Joy of loving hearts ; 
thou Refuge of the weary ; thou Lover of my soul, 
come and be my Friend. Yes, friendships are eternal 
— and true friendships abide in Heaven. Death shall 
take only the alloy from our friendships here, and like 
the soul is glorified in Heaven — so shall our friend- 
ships be, on the other side of the grave. 


mtsljinc. 




And it came to pass when their hearts were merry, that they 
said, call for Samson, that he may make us sport And they 
called for Samson out of the prison-house ; and he made them 
sport ; and they set him between the pillars . — Judges 16 : 25. 

f HE Young Man of Sunshine ! 

Samson was very properly styled “ the Sunny.” 
He is more frequently spoken of as “ the strong.” 
We are apt to lose sight of his bright, beamy, cheery 
disposition behind the marvel of his Herculean ex- 
ploits. Like some ancient Merovingian king, whose 
long hair was the sign of royalty, he wore his seven 
sweeping locks as the token of a Nazarene. The 
vow was upon him that he never must drink wine, 
and in all his wanderings through the shady vineyards 
of Soreck and Timnath he never touched one cluster 
of grapes, nor lingered over the free libations of the 
wine-press. Abstemious as he was in this respect, he 
(108) 


The Young Man of Sunshine. 109 

yet was an irregular, unpolished and frolicsome fellow 
in other directions. 

Strong as a giant ! A finely developed physical 
frame is something to be admired. The athlete is 
to be envied for his muscular prowess. He was the 
handsome Hercules of Israel, its champion in battle, 
and its hero of song. Samson was as full of irrepressible 
spirits and pranks as a giant can be. He was always 
in a good humor, and in the midst of his cruel and 
most valiant feats, he smiled with mischief, and passed 
off his deeds with playful jest or stinging satire. What 
a grand young fellow he must have been, when, con- 
scious of his power, he went forth smiling to perform 
any-one of his great achievements. This strength lay 
not in the fashioning of his body, nor in the peculiar 
texture of his arm or hand — it was a miracle in him, 
planted there of God. See, how he meets the crouch- 
ing lion in the vineyard. When he springs upon 
him, he catches him in his arms, and rends him like a 
kid. Out of the carcass of that lion, he later on, coins 
a riddle to amuse the guests of his wedding-feast : 

“ Out of the eater came forth meat, 

And out of the strong came forth sweetness.” 

What a stupendous joke that was when Samson 
sought sweet revenge, by tying three hundred jackals 
together, tail and tail, with a fire-match between, and 


no The igth Century Young Man . 

sent them into the cornfields of Philistia to make a 
grand conflagration ! He must have smiled with 
grim humor when he sent them down by pairs from the 
hill of Zorah, and watched the flaming devastation, 
and the discomfiture of his enemies. See, when his 
cowardly countrymen bring him down from the rock 
to deliver him to the thousands of Philistines, how he 
picks up the jaw-bone of an ass in the way, and 
crushes the helmets into their heads, and crashes the 
greaves of brass into their bodies, routing them all, 
and slaying a whole regiment of them. Even here he 
must get off a pun in the midst of greatest weariness : 
“ With the jaw-bone of ass have I slain one mass , two 
masses ; with the jaw-bone of an ass I have slain an 
ox - load of men.” See him tearing off the ponderous 
gates of Gaza, and carrying them, posts, bars and all, 
up to a high hill. It was a surprising joke played on 
the night-watchmen, who, in the morning, could not 
help but smile at the neatness of the trick by w r hich 
they were out-witted. Then see how he amuses him- 
self with his inquisitive Delilah, who for a large bribe 
would discover his strength to his enemies ! How he 
toys with her by a succession of quaint devises ! She 
ties him with green vine-tendrils, at his suggestion — 
then shouts : “The Philistines be upon thee !” He 
tears them like tow, and laughs at the fooled enemies 


The Young Man of Sunshine. 


hi 


who rush out of their concealment. Next, she tries 
new ropes with the same ludicrous result. Then he 
suggests that she weave his seven locks fast in the web, 
Delilah sits squatting at her loom, with Samson’s 
head on her lap, and she weaves his braids into the 
web, then shouts: “The Philistines be upon thee !” 
He awakes, walks away with pin, beam and web — the 
whole weaving apparatus. What fun for Samson ! 

But the heartless blandishments of a mercenary 
woman will ruin any man who is fascinated by her 
vile arts. He melts before her tears, his seven locks 
of hair are cut off, his eye-balls scooped out, and he 
is sent bound in brass, down to the prison-house of 
Gaza, there to grind corn. Now the religious feast 
to Dagon. is held, and high revelry is had in the spa- 
cious amphitheatre of the town. Samson is brought 
out to make sport for the gathered multitude. Roars 
of laughter, and the wildest excitement greet his biting 
banter, surprising pleasantness, sporting jests and rail- 
ing buffoonery. But even here Samson forgot not his 
savage humor. Droll irony shone out of his indignant 
spirit. When standing between the two main pillars, 
he prayed : “ O Lord Jehovah, remember me now ; 
and strengthen me now, only this once, O God, that I 
may be avenged of the Philistines (not for both of my 
lost eyes — but) for one of my two eyes.” Under the 


1 12 The 19th Century Young Man. 

crash lay three thousand of the Philistines with their 
lords — and Samson too. But over all speaks the grim, 
yet triumphant satire : “ The dead which he slew at 
his death were more than they which he slew in his 
life.” 

Cultivate a cheerful disposition. Samson is right, 
we ought to sprinkle as much sunshine into our life as 
possible. How many sad faces you notice on your 
streets ! What sombre seriousness burdens the souls 
of most men between their rising up and lying down ! 
There, that sad face goes, homeward-bound, gathering 
increasing shadows of moodiness as it nears the thres- 
hold — within the domain of many family-circles 
crouches the nightmare of gloomy dispositions. Who 
likes the cynic, and who cares to associate with the 
young man who grumbles with discontent before ever 
he has left the downy bed of his parents, and stem- 
med the tide of adverse circumstance? 

Give me the sun-shiny young man to begin life 
with. As the bright luminary of day affects the land- 
scape, when breaking through the blackened clouds, 
brightening the hues of the valleys, stirring the song 
of the dales, transforming the dew-drops into pearls — 
so he changes the aspect of the scene when he enters 
upon it. The sun-shiny young man makes life worth 
the living. He leads us away from the dark side of 


The Young Man of Sunshine . 1 1 3 

humanity. Much as we differ in other respects, we 
quite agree in preferring health to sickness, the sweet 
to the sour, sunshine to shade, smiles to frowns. 
Does he enter home — he is the radiant sun there to 
drive out the chilly mist and threatening storm — he 
conjures around the fire-hearth the fairy-spirits of 
home-delights. His smile does not only light up 
into radiancy his face, but makes it the magic wand 
to command hosts of friends. We love to bask in sun- 
shine. 

Cheerfulness produces health and prolongs life. 
The spirit of murmuring wears hard the delicate fibers 
of the physical machinery. Despondency and re- 
pinings are poison to the blood in our veins. Cheer- 
fulness soothes the passions, calms the soul, and gives 
a man the chance to live long. I like to meet a 
merry heart at work, and in the doing of business. 
Give me a workman that will strike the anvil and keep 
time with a song, that will draw the whirring plane 
with a whistle, that will have interludes of heart-wel- 
ling laughter for the pick and the axe. He does more 
work, better work, and sticks to it longer than any of 
the sullen, silent fellows do. The march has no fa- 
tigue with music. Those who give away to depression, 
easily go down hill. See them sitting in the valley 
of despair. You help them to little purpose if you 
8 


IT4 The 19th Century Young Man. 

help them out, for they have not the hopeful, courage- 
ous spirit that will catch victory from defeat. Have 
you found that man who can maintain his good cheer 
whilst sitting amidst a ruined fortune ? How like the 
ivy that so beautifully entwines the ruined castle, is his 
cheerfulness which makes the most of an adverse 
state. 

Have good humor , but not its associating weaknesses. 
The light-hearted man that carries a bright face 
with him wherever he goes, is a blessing. The sunny 
nature that scatters pleasant words in his way, dis- 
penses one of the sweet charities of life. O the magic 
charm of pleasant words ! Such wizards of paradisai- 
cal joys we meet sometimes in our life. To-day I go 
along the street utterly oblivious to its gay parade of 
life. I care not to live. Broken down in spirits, I 
have grown sour over the many sorrows that like tidal 
waves have washed over me. I care not for the friend- 
ships of the world, I have thrown everything over- 
board, and am ready to be consigned to unmitigated 
gloom. Just then the sunny companion of my youth 
startles me with his sweet voice. His whispers are 
like an angel’s song to my soul. One pleasant word 
imparted in the radiancy of his good nature, has called 
me back, and I feel that life is worth the living after 
all. At another time business has gone wrong. I 


The Young Man of Sunshine. 1 1 5 

leave the counting-room under the chill of a cloud. I 
turn my face homeward, I dread to plant my feet upon 
that threshold. But the sweet voices of children 
greet me, and the encouraging words of a sunny spouse 
hail me — I am a man again. I turn down the light 
in my room, I streich my feet along the fire-grate — 
lock the door. I must be alone to-night, quite alone 
with my. down-cast spirits. A rap at the door — come 
in ! Surely, here comes my jovial guest — an old friend, 
whose gayety and liveliness of nature have been the 
envy of all gloomy misanthropes. A mercurial spark 
shoots through me, as he shakes hands. Fresh as 
Winter ozone is his magnetic presence. Radiant hope 
is written all over his face, and across his lips rush 
words that have the life-stirring power of Spring. I 
am aroused from my despondency of soul, the lassi- 
tude of my body is swept out of my bones, and the 
lowering clouds lifted from off my brow — I smile, and 
soon join the music of the crackling hearth — I laugh. 
That man is a public benefactor who has the natural 
talent to make people laugh. It is no virtue to be a 
morose Timon. Give all your inclination to vivacity 
a fair chance — do not stifle it. Only take care that 
those gifts so desirable for the cheer of self, and the 
life of society, do not degenerate into extravagant 
mirth and indecent harlequinades. 


ii 6 The 19th Century Young Man. 

Samson’s good nature disappoints us. We expected 
him to be as stately in character as he was in appear- 
ance, and to be quite as strong in his morals, as he 
was in his physical endurance. But his good heart 
ran away with him. It might have been said of him — 
as it is often said somewhat pityingly of others — “ he 
was too good for his own good.” He was readily 
imposed upon, and easily misled. His good humor 
precipitated him into the extremes, and his fun-mak- 
ing caught him in the traps. He laughed and joked 
himself clean into the Gaza jail. Now, it is all right 
to be a wi t — an intelligent satirist or humorist. Henry 
IV. was gay and full of jests even in battle. Cicero, 
Horace and Juvenal could not repress their playful 
raillery. Piron was a bundle of wit. Sterne, Rabe- 
lais and Wieland were overflowing with comical con- 
ceptions. Rev. Dr. Peters was as full of witticisms 
as he was full of breath. Beecher could not help 
himself — he was grotesque and beautiful in all his sal- 
lies of good humor. Lincoln, who carried a nation’s 
deepest gloom in his soul, relieved his burdens by the 
rare tonic of wit and pleasing talent of story-telling. 
It is all right to be the soul of humor, and the centre 
of attraction in a circle of friends — but it is a bur- 
lesque on the strength and dignity of character to be 
sought after for one’s buffoonery. “Call for Samson, 
that he may make us sport.” 


The Young Man of Sunshine . 1 1 7 

The practical joker. The giant of our story brought 
on some most deplorable results by his foolish pro- 
pensity. Not only was his wife burned, her home and 
parents with it, but he paid the forfeit of his own life 
by the hazard of his practical jokes. How many 
children are fatally injured by means of the mask and 
white sheet performance ! The college-wit continues 
to play the stupid jests of unloaded pistols upon his 
fellows ; he initiates the timid freshman by the ter- 
rors of a midnight ceremony — and many a brilliant 
young man has received the point of a sword, instead 
of the point of a repartee, because of an ill-timed 
sport. The fate of Gonello is well known to the practi- 
cal joker. He was the favorite buffoon in the court of 
Nicolo III., and his jests were much sought after. The 
ruler fell sick with ague, and the physician recommend- 
ed that his excellency be submerged in water without 
any notice. The generous Gonello filled out the pre- 
scription very unceremoniously one day as he sud- 
denly pushed his royal patron headlong into the river 
along which he was strolling. The enraged marquis 
was pulled out, and the discomfited jester fled to 
Padua, when he was not allowed to explain. An edict 
demanded his death “should he again set foot on 
Ferrara ground.” 

Gonello ventured a return, when his ruler had re- 


n8 The igth Century Young Man, 

covered health and good humor, upon a cart filled 
with Padua earth, pleading the jocose device that the 
edict could not be carried out, because he was not 
standing on “Ferrara ground.” A tragedy followed 
a comedy — religion administered, the head laid on the 
block, the executioner feigns a flourish of the axe, 
pours a pail of water on the bare throat — the assem- 
bly roars with laughter. But Gonello does not stir, 
his head is still fast — a grim joke killed the joker. 

Avoid the spirit of levity. The fun -making nature 
is ensnared into pit-falls, and meets its fate as it 
goes down the road, instead of up the road. Cheer- 
fulness ought to maintain itself on the high plain — it 
has degenerated when it has fallen to the degree of 
levity. This spasmodic pyrotecnics of irrepressible 
feeling, gives no satisfying pleasure — it comes from 
the wrong source, and has no stability. It often dis- 
ports itself at the wrong time, and prompts us to say 
with Shakespeare : 

“ Our graver business frowns at this levity.” 

This levity is often forced, the offspring of folly and 
vice. But cheerfulness is the child of wisdom and vir- 
tue always. The one is a surface agitation of good 
cheer for the time being — the other is a permanent hab- 
it of our nature. It is not well even to be the child 
of mirth — for intemperate mirth shoots the mercury of 


The Young Man of Sunshine. 119 

our feelings to ecstatic heights, holds us there for a 
moment, and then lets us drop into the deepest mel- 
ancholy. Like the lightning flash, it breaks through 
the darkened cloud, brightens up by its lurid glare, 
only to leave the sky of our being in more blinding 
darkness than ever before. 

Samson was not only fickle and inconstant, frivolous 
in his pranks, and full of levity — he likewise was a 
punster. The inveterate punster is a nuisance. Alas 
for the devil’s mirth that is “ like crackling of thorns 
under a pot.” It is all right to have a good time — 
but beware of the fun in excess. Where was Samson 
cracking his jokes ? When lying in the lap of wanton 
Delilah. Maintain a Christian dignity in the pre- 
sence of sinners. He passed his jests at the expense 
of the holy symbol — his seven locks. This was irre- 
verence. Young man, make no puns on Scripture, 
nor any holy thing. It is one of the debased diver- 
sions of the thoughtless who have a humorous vein in 
them. It finally leaves the jester in a bad state — his 
own conscience censures him, and he has the constant 
feeling of wrong oppressing him. Behind the scenes 
he will say — “after all, what fools we be.” It is one 
of the devil’s ways, to turn sunny good natures into 
frivolous jesters. He spurs them on in their light- 
hearted merriment, bids for the wit in the company 


120 The igth Century Young Man. 

of the scoffer, and the lowest places. He has his fol- 
lowers to applaud the humorous aspirant — and him- 
self laughs the loudest where the young man points a 
jest at the soul, or death, or eternity. Satan is not 
always a gloomy spirit, stalking in darkness — he is 
likewise a jester, and wit and satire and irony are 
among his greatest weapons. 

Catch the sunshine of religion. Samson was a con- 
secrated man, and for all purposes ought to have been 
a very religious man. But he lacked saintly piety, 
and his good nature was not the fault of it. On the 
other hand, I think cheerfulness is a Christian duty. 
If God has endowed you with a sunny nature, do not 
look at the acceptance of religion as a necessary 
eclipse of it. You may hear it said of a young man : 
“ He was a good fellow before he joined church — but 
now there is nothing in him.” It is exactly the out- 
come of the conviction some young converts have, 
that to be a Christian, is to tie up the natural qualities. 
No, if it is natural for you to be light-hearted and 
cheerful, cultivate these glorious main-springs within 
you to a higher order. It is the duty of religion to 
unfold good humor in us, to develop the cheerful 
mind, and to make the sunny disposition to grow 
sweeter and more brilliant. Shall the wicked man be 
merry, and the Christian be sad ? What an anomaly 


The Young Man of Sunshine. 


I 21 


is that ! Worldlings find a certain joy in their forced 
merriments, and the lewdly wicked laugh loudly in 
their orgies of sin — what a shame that the Christian 
will not find as much delight and joy in his God ! 
Who likes to meet with dyspeptic Christians, and 
those sullen natures that would make of the church a 
sort^ of a monastery ? “ Rejoice in the Lord always !” 
The consecrated man like Samson should be full of 
sunshine, and unlike him, should be stable in all good 
purposes of life. He ought to be like the good spies, 
whom Moses sent to bring report from the Promised 
Land. He must bring the luscious clusters of joy, and 
urge by cheerful promises, that all his friends and asso- 
ciates enter the land of delights. 

Yes, I am thinking of Heaven, and the sunny, cheer- 
ful natures that we shall meet there. We shall be 
more than consecrated Samsons there — we shall be 
glorified. All alloy of sorrow, gloom, and pain, shall 
have been pressed out of us in the crucible of death, 
and we shall be eternally happy spirits with God. 
We shall be styled “ the sunny,” — for we shall reflect 
the glorious light of Jesus, who is the Sun of Heaven. 

“ I know not, O, I know not, 

What social joys are there ! 

What radiancy of glory, 

What light beyond compare.” 


rofessiotral ftian. 



Paul called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will 
of God . — i Cor. i : i 

And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou 
have me to do ? And the Lord said unto him, Arise and go into 
the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do . — Acts 
9- b- 

f HE Young Professional Man. 

We take Paul as the type of young man who 
succeeds in the professions. He found the right call- 
ing, and worked to the top of it. Now, that we con- 
template the marvellous achievements of this mission- 
ary-hero, the wide-spread influence of his work, and 
the enduring power of it, we wonder that such genius 
of success should dwell in one single man. The 
three great professions are law, medicine and divinity 
— there are many failures in them, and we would know 
the reason of it. 

The law is an honorable profession, and noble men 


The Young Professio?icil Man. 123 

grace its ranks. In the decline of Roman jurispru- 
dence, however, lawyers were ignorant and rapacious 
guides. But history places them nearly everywhere 
in the forefront of patriotic citizenship. They do 
not stand simply to plead in courts of law and equity, 
nor rise to an authority on constitutional and inter- 
national law, nor sit as eminent Chief Justices in the 
land, but they likewise are patriots — founders and de- 
fenders of governments. Greece had its Demos- 
thenese, Rome its Cicero, England its Lord Broug- 
ham, Ireland its Daniel O’Connell, France its Thiers, 
Germany its Bismark, America its Patrick Henry, 
Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Daniel Webster and 
Abraham Lincoln — a grand galaxy of Zenases from 
Moses, the law-giver, down to Christ the law-ex- 
pounder. 

Medicine is a blessed profession. Since the time 
of Hisculapius, who had become the god of the heal- 
ing art, great strides have been made among the doc- 
tors. When Charles II. lay at death’s door, the most 
noted physicians of London were summoned to his 
bed-side. Fourteen names were signed to the pre- 
scription. They bled him most profusely, applied a 
hot iron to his head, extracted a loathsome volatile 
salt from human skulls, and forced it down his throat 
— but he survived. Luke retained the stamp of his 


124 The 19th Century Young Man. 

first calling — “the beloved physician,” and by this 
we learn how closely related the minister and physi- 
cian are. For one, it is the healing of grief, and the 
other, the healing of disease. There was a time when 
three doctors met, and two were sceptics. It is the 
Bible-reading physician that we need in the sick-room. 
Not only are our doctors philanthropic, and even re- 
ligious to a large degree — but many of them are the 
eminent scientists and philosophers of the world. A 
noble profession ! We like to think of Dr. Holmes 
as a humorist. The physician dwells in the homes of 
darkening shadows — he might be melancholy. He 
daily breathes the atmosphere of suffering, and looks 
upon the disrobing of the pride and glory of man. 
He is a vast depositary of shameful ills, and their 
ghastly secrets he has locked in his bosom. His bat- 
tle is with a mighty power — and when the king’s robe, 
and royal sceptre even, are laid by, princely eyes and 
lips plead that he allow not the fearful metempsychosis 
to come — the fair form consigned to the loathsome 
clod and the inanimate dust. 

The ministry is the sacred profession. The divine 
Master graced the holy office. Its blessings are hea- 
ven-born, and if ever the sin-fallen world shall see 
light again, it must come by the radiancy of the Cross 
and its ministry. What a noble profession to enter ! 


The Young Professional Man. 


125 


“ How beauteous are their feet, 

Who stand on Zion’s hill ! 

Who bring salvation on their tongues, 

And words of peace reveal.” 

It is no extravagant estimate of the preacher to 
say — there is no domain of philosophy or science 
where he does not stand pre-eminent. The clergy 
are among the leaders in learning, in the great moral 
reforms, and in all the endeavors of Christian patriot- 
ism. 

In point of diversity of gifts there are many Rev. 
Manasseh Cutlers to be found among the ministers — 
who was preacher, lawyer, physician, astronomer, 
botanist, entomologist, explorer, colonist, legislator, 
and who might have been on the bench of the Su- 
preme Court under Washington. Nor is teaching as 
a profession to be despised — think of the great army 
of professors in our universities, and the greater co- 
horts of teachers in our free schools ! Their com- 
bined influence upon the land can hardly be measured. 
All honor to the patient and intelligent female teach- 
ers who grace this noble calling. 

We want in this day more of the right preparation 
for the various professions. There is a serious lack of 
the student in the rank and file of the three impor- 
tant vocations. Cicero might reply to many lawyers, 


126 The ipth Century Young Man. 

as he did to a certain Publius Cotta, who affected to 
be a learned advocate. Being questioned as a witness, 
he stupidly answered that he knew nothing about the 
matter. In derision of his meagre ability, Cicero 
interrupted : “ Perhaps you think I am asking you 
some question in law? ” It is a fact well known that 
the profession of medicine is disgraced by the whole- 
sale license of quack-doctors whose diplomas are bo- 
gus and bought — and they are legion. The ministry, 
in this day of marvellous progress, cannot afford to 
ask men to its pulpit without the strictest discrimina- 
tion of choice. Its weapons are forged in every 
school of material, moral and spiritual advance, and 
the preacher must be a marksman to shoot at 
a thousand different targets. The ministry is the 
encyclopedical profession, and but for the Pauls who 
have graduated from the great schools of the Gama- 
liels, could have no enlarged dignity and adorn- 
ment for the claims of the gospel. We must lay 
stress upon the student for the ministry. It is the 
prerogative of this profession, that the preacher be 
the great leader in the advanced learning of the world. 
Paul was called to his profession. The cry is — 
the professions are crowded !” There is plenty of 
room at the top, if you are called , and have aptitude 
to climb. But there is too eager a disposition in the 


The Young Professional Man. 127 

young men to crowd into the professions There is 
a certain dignity and charm of applause, that ever 
hang around these callings, and most young minds 
are fascinated by them — they covet a share of their 
honor. The professions are all right, if the right 
young man finds them. But hundreds of youths have 
been tempted into them, of whom it might be said, 
they had better learned a trade, or stayed at home on 
the farm. 

I believe that men are naturally called to their 
right places, if they will but heed. A certain bent of 
mind, and adaptation of talent and taste will decide, 
“what the Lord will have us to do.” I think par- 
ents ought to assist the boy to bring this call into the 
clear. It hardly is a fair test that the superstitious 
parent would make of the babe’s early inclination. 
A silver dollar, hammer and book, etc., are placed 
before the child on the floor. Whichever it reaches 
for, determines the calling of life to which he is to be 
devoted. The youngster of course grabs the dollar 
every time, for it is a weakness that follows man to his 
old age. But when Henry Ward Beecher proved a 
poor help to his uncle and patron on the farm, it was 
a sure evidence that his calling lay not in that direc- 
tion, at least. He was sent to school as the only alter- 
native, for he surely must be good for something — and 


128 The igth Century Young Man. 

by casting around he soon was upon the track of his 
calling. Daniel Webster mowed with his father in the 
field, and frequently during the day hinted that his 
scythe did not “hang” right His father hung the 
scythe again and again, and at last, thinking the re- 
quest a ruse for a rest, said : “ Dan, just hang that 
scythe to suit yourself, I wont touch it again.” Daniel 
immediately hung the scythe and snath together on the 
nearest apple-tree, and took a rest beneath its shade, 
replying at the same time, “ Father, now it hangs 
right ! ’ ’ Daniel Webster was not called to farming, and 
this was his forcible protest ! He however was intended 
to become America’s great Constitutional Expounder. 
When Benjamin West took the hair of a cat, and made 
a brush to paint with, it was the clearest indication that 
his place was nowhere else, but in the artist’s studio. 
You cannot force nature. You can’t make a trumpet 
out of a cow’s tail, and china-ware ought not to be 
used to scrape up the streets. The business-instinct 
is no artificial plant ; it is developed, not made. It is 
as little created as the poetical genius of Shakespeare, 
or the oratorical powers of a Cicero. Young men, 
listen to your inner call — find your place, and work up 
in it. 

I believe in a called ministry, and every young man, 
whom the Lord does not want there, ought not to ob- 


The Young Professional Man. 129 

trude with his lack of talent, and his abundance of 
worldly motive This call is more than a natural in- 
clination within us — it is a voice out of Heaven. I 
believe in a ministry guided by Providence, and I be- 
lieve also in the business arrangements of the ministry. 
It is simply nonsense and unbusiness-like to say, that 
a minister shall refuse a good salary when his talents 
shine -among people who have wealth to bestow. 
Whilst it is true that men have risen to eminence in 
the ministry, who have come from the most humble 
surroundings — : yet I think the safest choice of minis- 
ters is in those, who have at least pious homes. Blood 
will tell, and the bad complexion of mind, and wick- 
ed tricks of heart once reigning in the blood of a fam- 
ily, will generally make the scamps of the holy minis- 
try. The ministry will be all the more honored, 
when family-piety, family-standing, family-polish, and 
family-character can be brought with the young stu- 
dent to the honored vocation. The ministry is a 
holy calling. 

Paul was coiisecrated to his profession. I believe 
that a good lawyer, or doctor, or teacher, in fact any 
man, will succeed, if he be impelled by the power of 
consecration. Let a man have a purpose in him, and 
his whole soul absorbed by it, he will turn the world 
upside down. Some men have consecrated themselves 
9 


130 The igth Century Young Man. 

to a wrong purpose, but because consecrated, see their 
power to evil. Think of consecrated rulers, generals 
and soldiers ! You know the story of the Roman 
general who rushed into battle, to die as the oracle 
had indicated, in order to give his army the victory. 
You have read that Rome’s honor was every soldier’s 
honor, and none ever fell with wounds in his back, 
but always in his breast. Public characters, conse- 
crated to an idea, have spurned cold friendships, be- 
cause they would rather be right than have applause. 

Does a young man love his profession, and does he 
take pride in the fame of it, he also will be moved to 
work to the crown of it. I believe in enthusiasm in 
one’s calling of life. If you want to be a lawyer, or 
doctor, or minister, or any professional — be one all 
ablaze for the cause and work it represents. Says 
Taylor: “ Enthusiasm is the zeal of credulity; fana- 
tism of bigotry.” We want that mind-rapture, and 
honest heart-zeal that makes our vocation one of lux- 
ury and profit. We want to be active in the profes- 
sion, not for the worldly emolument of it entirely, 
more because of our honest faith in its good for man 
and God. 

Consecrated to the holy ministry ! Sacredly set 
apart for the preaching of the Gospel ! Thoroughly 
imbued with the nature and spirit of this vocation, what 


The Young Professional Man. 131 

can’t a consecrated preacher do ? Paul was thoroughly 
consecrated to his work--“ For I determined not to 
know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him 
crucified.” His zeal carried him over land and sea, 
it braved a thousand dangers, endured hardships un- 
told, and crowned itself with glory on the learned 
heights of Mars Hill. Not only must the ministry be 
consecrated to God, but also all trades, businesses and 
professions. The story reads well when it is said of the 
ancient Christians — they endured persecutions many, 
and were willing to be sawn asunder, and torn to 
pieces by wild beasts, and cut in twain by the sword, 
and dressed in sheep and goat skins. It is like a song 
of the heroes, when strains commend them for leaving 
their home and country to wander over the wide 
waters to heathen lands, or in quest of other shores 
where they might breathe the air of Christian liberty — 
all this because they were consecrated. But all our 
callings must be consecrated to God. When we have 
talent to make money we must also have consecration 
to give of the money we make. Not only preachers, 
but the good men of all professions, ought to say with 
Paul : “ None of these things move me, neither count 
I my life dear unto me, that I may win Christ and 
finish my course with joy.” 

Paul was successful in his profession Success ! 


132 The igth Century Young Man. 

What a star is that to draw the youth, and guide 
him in his grand endeavors of life. I see that word 
written upon the banner of every enterprise. 

“ Eureka!” I have found it! is the exclamation 
of every Archimedes in the accomplishment of that 
thing the heart has set to do. The music of all indus- 
tries, the smoke of all stacks, the whirl of all com- 
merce, the blaze of all advertisement, the push and 
hurry of the vast streams of humanity, intonate and 
spell out that one word — success ! It is the objective 
point of every man, woman, and child — and they who 
care not for it, are the drones in the hive of this active 
world. Bovee says : “ There are none so low but they 
have their triumphs. Small successes suffice for small 
souls.” Aspire to great success. 

What is any profession — any calling of life, that is 
not crowned with success. Failure is a black tomb- 
stone over the grave of a man who dared not, and 
did not. It is however a poor advice to youth, when 
Pope incites — 

“ Get Place and Wealth : if possible with grace ; 

If not, by any means get Wealth and Place.” 

I like to hear that a lawyer, by his learning and 
skill, has made for himself a great name, and amassed 
a great fortune. But when he has become a sort of a 
legal professor, dealing in subtleties to confound the 


The Young Professional Man . 133 

plainest truths, and with arguments coloring the most 
unjustifiable pretensions, purposely conducting his 
clients through a maze of expense, delay and disap- 
pointment to swell his fees, — I would rather live 
in a haunted house, than possess his fortune. To be 
celebrated as a specialist in the art of healing is alike 
productive of a great name and a great fortune. 
From Hippocrates down to Jenner, down to the pre- 
sent celebrities of the schools of Homoeopathy, Allo- 
pathy, Hydropathy, Medical Electricity and Surgery 
— what an array of successful physicians ! 

To be a preacher like Paul, learned and eloquent, and 
everywhere making “a great stir about that way,” is 
the sublimest of successes. Preachers dare not deal 
with the Bible as if they were dissecting a dried-up 
mummy. The Sacred Word trembles and drops with 
life — and to be a successful preacher one must preach 
truth of vital importance to the state and habit of the 
world to-day. We want 19th Century young preach- 
ers for the 19th Century times — the same old Word, 
but applied to the sins and needs of to-day. Luther 
and his gospel-preaching are the warp and woof of 
modern history. The Knoxes, Whitfields, Chrysostoms, 
Ahlfelds, Chalmers, Muhlenbergs, Jonathan Edwards’ 
are only equaled by the Potters, Farrars, Parkers, Spur- 
geons, Beechers, Talmages and Lutheran lights of to- 


134 The 19th Century Young Man . 

day. What an army of men have written upon their 
ministerial work that grand word — success ! And 
yet another plalanx is coming on, marching toward 
the conquest of the world for Christ the King. 

Paul was rewarded in his profession. It is a satis- 
faction to have received some tangible benefit from 
the long work of one’s life. Perhaps the lawyer may 
say — “ I have my reward ! ” as he looks to his beau- 
tiful mansion which hangs so gracefully from the hill- 
side, and thinks of the wealth and luxury that are 
stored within. Yet to count up, how many innocent 
ones have been saved from the jail and gallows, how 
many helpless ones have been protected against an 
unjust robbery, and how many victories have been 
gained by him for the purity of legislation at home, 
and in the higher courts abroad — that I think would 
be additional reason for the outburst, “ I have my 
reward ! ’ ’ 

The physician, like a Pasteur, may find his name 
and picture in every journal of the world, and his 
vanity might be satisfied with such a monument of 
universal fame. But can he not think of the untold 
agonies of the rabies, and marshal the army of un- 
fortunates he has saved from raving death, and in the 
ecstasy of a true philanthropist, exclaim, “ This is my 
reward.” Yes, the doctor has a mission which the 


The Young Professional Man. 135 

Saviour himself endorsed by his miracles of mercy 
upon the afflicted. Every day he meets some monu- 
ment of his skill in his path of duty — and it must 
thrill him to know — that here, there and yonder, he 
has been the preserver of life. 

The minister deals with the inner world. His mis- 
sion is soul-saving, the grandest work on earth. He 
is something of a tangible personality, of like nature 
with man, standing as a mediator between the soul on 
earth, and the God in Heaven. What a comfort to 
the sorrowing and the dying, to feel the hand and 
hear the prayer of a guide who has mighty influence 
with the throne of the Omnipotent. Glorious is this 
vocation ! Would that our young men might see the 
beauty of the holy office, and be moved to stand in 
the ranks of the prophets and the Pauls ! 

“ Lord of the Church, we humbly pray 
For those who guide us in our way, 

And speak the holy Word : 

With love divine their hearts inspire, 

And touch their lips with hallowed fire, 

And needful grace afford. 

Help them to preach the truth of God, 

Redemption through the Saviour’s blood : 

Nor let the Spirit cease 
On all the Church His gifts to shower ; 


The igth Century Young Man. 


To them a messenger of power, 

To us, of life and peace. 

So may they live to thee alone : 

Then hear the welcome word, “ Well done !” 

And take their crown above : 

Enter into their Master’s joy, 

And all eternity employ, 

In praise, and bliss, and love.” 



Is not this the carpenter, the Son of Mary ? — Mark 6:3. 

f HE Young Mechanic ! 

Young man, accept my congratulations that you 
have learned a trade. I see that you are well-clad, 
of robust health, and carry yourself with happy mien 
— indeed, I think you are, in many respects, the 
most fortunate of those who toil for a living. You 
finish your work, draw your salary, go home to your 
family — and leave the great business-world to the 
clash of its rivalries and worries. 

Many a young man thinks a trade beneath him, and 
he aspires to be a gentleman, a professional, or one 
who would carve his way through the world by his 
wits. His ignorant pride plays shy of one of the 
most lucrative, honorable and enjoyable spheres of 
human activity. I am amazed as I look over this land, 


138 The igth Century Young Man. 

which history tells us, a short time ago was a wilder- 
ness, and see what skilled labor has done. The prai- 
ries have been reclaimed, the forests subdued, and from 
the sea-washed beach of the Atlantic to the surges of 
the Pacific, the woodman’s axe has leveled the way for 
the march of persevering, unyielding, triumphant la- 
bor. Look at this panorama of blooming villas, 
towns and cities ! Listen, to the trumpet-tones from 
hill and valley, which speak of the value and dignity 
of labor ! 

The professional theorizes, and the best he can do 
with his thoughts is to bind them into books. But 
the mechanic materializes thought. He brings up the 
ore from the bowels of the earth, dashes it into the 
fiery furnace, draws it out under the hammer, and 
moulds it to his will ; he fells the mighty oaks of the 
forest, slashes them under the buzzing saw, and then 
applies them as he wills ; he breaks off from the rocks 
the rugged blocks, and breathes outlines of beauty 
upon them by hammer and chisel just as he wills — so 
he masters every material thing, and catches every 
known element, and shapes them into most exquisite 
thought, and calls them house, bridge, boat, engine — 
and a thousand things. 

You remember the legend, how Solomon made a 
feast for his artisans. At the unveiling of the throne 


The Young Man at His Trade. 139 

a giant, a muscular smith, had usurped the seat of 
honor, and nonchalantly rested on his ponderous 
hammer. The artisans murmured, and rushed upon 
the presumptuous intruder to slay him. “Stop!” 
cried Solomon, “ let him speak !” The smith calmly 
essayed to reply: “Most noble king, to thy feast 
thou didst invite all the artisans but me. What could 
these have done without me? I fashioned all the 
tools that built thy temple.” The king answered : 
“ Right ! give the highest seat to the smith !” So since 
the time of Tubal-Cain, we love to linger by the 
moaning bellows of every smithy, and do honor to 
the skillful forger, as he shapes the tools of the me- 
chanic amid a thousand flying sparks. 

Picture the Saviour learning his trade of carpentry. 
With hammer, plane and saw, he worked at his father 
Joseph’s bench. The sweet-smelling wood melted into 
bits of shaving all around Him, as He fashioned, with 
those divine hands, some earthly article of conveni- 
ence. There is a fascination about the work in wood 
that appeals to every one. Put the plane to a fine- 
quartered oak, and a grain that baffles the artist’s 
brush comes forth, and an aroma that defies the best 
solution of the chemist fills the air. 

Christ placed dignity on handicraft. When the 
Prince of Heaven put on the Carpenter’s apron, He 


140 The igth Century Young Man. 

dignified the mission of the mechanic. Where in all 
the world is the calling of the artisan more honored 
than in America ? Among the Greeks and Romans 
mechanical industry and art were productive of models 
for all subsequent time — and yet the mechanic there 
was classed among the slaves. Among the ancient 
Germans the great feudal lords collected on their own 
estates the skilled artisans — but they were not freemen, 
all bondsmen. So upon the “collegia” of ancient 
Rome followed the “trade-guilds” of mediaeval 
times, and after the pattern and spirit of these, have 
arisen the “ labor-unions ” of to-day. It has been a 
long battle for the establishment of the dignity of la 
bor. The ancient empire of Rome, when subdued 
by the fierce German, gave its less-tutored master the 
mechanic, and along with him civilization. If in the 
wake of the mechanic came civilization, in the wake 
of Christ came the dignity of the mechanic. All arti- 
sans ought to belong to the Christ-guild — for it was 
the Prince from Heaven who learned the trade of car- 
pentry, and thereby gave the impress of divine dig- 
nity to all handicraft. Upon whom has the church 
and the doctrines of Christ more claim than upon 
this very young man who belongs to the class known 
as mechanics ? 

The dignity of labor ! Let the artisan stand erect ! 


The Young Man at His Trade. 141 

Need he bend the knee, bow and cringe to the nod 
of Pride? His arm of iron made the world a garden 
of beauty. It stretched a Moses’ rod over the wide 
sea, and subdued its waves to the mastery of the keel. 
It stretched its wand over mountain-heights and des- 
ert-glades, and made them musical with industry, and 
fruitful of comforts and joys — then why should this 
noble man, this mechanic, stoop to the soil he has 
taught to bloom, or fall before chance of tinseled 
birth — that he feeds and clothes ? — let him stand erect ! 

The Creator himself originated the school of me- 
chanics. The world is planned and framed with me- 
chanical and art-exactness. Skilled genius, and all 
ornamental designing is modeled after the perfect 
workmanship of God. Every mechanic is a sort of 
a little creator. This is not the day to disparage the 
guild of artisans. Lycurgus was wrong when he 
thought that he had procured a great happiness for 
his countrymen by forbiding them to exercise any 
mechanic trade. Such vice-breeding leisure could 
stand it for awhile where fortunes were of no account, 
and where the Helotes , who tilled the ground, were 
answerable for the produce. But to attain to dignity, 
independence and happiness to-day, a man must be 
something, and he is not the least, when he is a me- 
chanic. 


142 


The igth Century Young Man. 


Handicraft ! — the dignity of the skillful products 
of the Hand ! How beautifully has Sarah Jane Hale 
expressed it — 

“ The hand, — what wondrous wisdom planned 
This instrument so near divine ! 

How impotent, without the Hand, 

Proud Reason’s light would shine ! 

Invention might her power apply, 

And Genius see the forms of heaven, — 

And firm Resolve his strength might try ; 

But vain the Will, the Soul, the Eye, 

Unquarried would the marble lie, 

The oak and cedar flout the sky, 

Had not the Hand been given ! 

Art’s glorious things that give the Mind 
Dominion over time and space, — 

The silken car that rides the wind ; 

The Steel that trackless seas can trace ; 

The Engine breathing fire and smoke 
That Nepture’s potent sway hath broke, 

And sails its ships ’gainst wind and tide ; 

The Telescope that sweeps the sky, 

And brings the pilgrim planet nigh, 

Familiar as the Sun’s pale bride; 

The microscopic Lens which finds 
On every leaf a peopled land, — 

All these that aid the mightiest Minds 

Were wrought and fashioned by the Hand ! 


The Young Man at His Trade . 143 

Christ' s example teaches that it is well for every 
young man to have a trade. The Saviour was obe- 
dient to the Jewish custom, that every boy learn a 
trade. Paul, though rich and expecting to become a 
professional, learned tent-making. It is the idea of 
every typical German family to-day, that the sons have 
mastered some branch of handicraft. It is a good 
custom, and one full of philanthropic fore-sight. Pe- 
ter the Great learned ship-building, and by marshal- 
ling an army of mechanics, more than by an army 
equipped with sabers, he lifted up Russia to greatness. 

What a lofty thought is inspired by the picture of 
the heavenly King in human garb, at fashioning some 
household article out of the cedars of Lebanon ! 
Was He not with God when worlds were made ? — 
constellations and worlds ! Was it not his voice that 
spoke “ in the beginning,” and light, hills and valleys, 
seas and rivers, fishes and birds, beasts and man — 
wonderful man! were made? Yes, and now that 
mighty Genius condescends to teach us by His own 
hand, that it is part of the duty and nobility of 
man to continue work where God left off. What 
would money be worth, or would money be at all? — if 
the skilled hand of man were not trained to utilize 
the raw material of things that God has made for the 
creations of inventive genius? The ore represents 


144 The igth Century Young Man. 

wealth — but it is not wealth until the artisan’s skill 
has breathed upon the shapeless iron and brass and 
gold and silver ; the coal represents wealth — but not 
until the artisan’s skill has transformed it into little 
diamonds, and carburetted hydrogen and other uses ; 
the dead clay is wealth — but not until the artisan’s 
skill has kneaded it into building-blocks, and recep- 
ticles and ornaments ; the waving forest is wealth — 
but not until the artisan’s skill has cut, and carved, 
and fitted it into ten thousand articles of use and 
beauty to the world. Where shall we stop ? Every 
sound, every sky-ascending smoke, every material 
outline that stretches along the surface of the earth 
or rises above it, is the demonstrated fact, that the 
world could better do without the scholar, than with- 
out the mechanic. A factory humming and rattling 
with tiers of machinery, a merchant’s emporium wink- 
ing and waving with gay fabrics, a jeweler’s case flash- 
ing with brilliant gems and ornaments of exquisite 
design — why the house without and the house within, 
the house above and the house beneath, tells us that 
one mechanic is of more use to the world than ten 
thousand millionaires, if no mechanics were to be had. 
Kings need you, my young artisan. The Emperor 
Charlemagne would not' have been half so great but 
by fostering the mechanic arts. Napoleon would not 


The Young Man at His Trade. 


!45 


have succeeded in war ; Solomon would only have 
been wise, but never the builder of the wonderful 
Temple. 

The Saviour knew that his example at the work- 
man’s bench would not only stand for the skill of the 
hand — but for civilization and morality and Chris- 
tianity. If this is the need of the science and skill 
of mechanics — then there is need for every young 
man to learn a trade. How many boys of poor fami- 
lies grow up in neglect of this duty and privilege. 
No trade — they have nothing, and will ever remain 
nothing. The more young men learn a trade, the 
safer will be the country. It won’t do to raise an 
army of idlers. A producer is always more of a man 
than a consumer. A mechanic has a safe-guard to his 
morals by his trade. No trade ? Il is well enough, 
as long as you have money, and can go into business. 
But business can be burned out, and money can take 
wings — and then you have nothing, if you have no 
trade. A trade is fire-proof, and never goes into bank- 
ruptcy. Some in this world must have brains — but more 
must have brains and skill. O, the army of mechanics ! 
Hear the “ noon-whistle,” and soon the streets swarm 
with hurrying men to catch meal and time — the tho- 
roughfares are black with smiling and happy mechan- 
ics. Pay-day ! There is a potency in that day — a 
io 


146 The igth Century Young Man. 

red-letter day, and all business revolves around the 
dolhir of the mechanic. 

Christ learned the trade of his father Joseph. In 
East India no man is allowed to relinquish the trade 
of his forefathers — it is hereditary. This singular 
system also prevailed among the ancient Egyptians. 
There are five classes — Brahmins, soldiers, husband- 
men, mechanics and pariahs. The persons of the last 
caste are the scavengers of the town. All these classes 
are separated from each other by insurmountable bar- 
riers; they are not allowed to inter-marry, to live or 
to cat together, and whoever transgresses these rules 
is banished as a disgrace to his tribe. 

What a paradise is America for the mechanic ! 
There is no caste here — and the artificers are not a 
class exclusively to themselves. The greatest emolu- 
ments, and highest gifts in the bestowal of a nation, 
are within the reach of handicraft here. The me- 
chanic is a freeman in choice of calling, and in all 
efforts to social and material greatness. He leads to 
the altar, if he will, the daughter of his employer ; 
he builds himself a house, if he can, in the finest 
avenue of the rich ; he enters the best of society, by 
his own cleverness, and if he has talent and success 
to crown him, the most fastidious will court his favor. 
If the mechanic becomes the skilled manufacturer, 


The Young Man at His Trade. 147 

and the manufacturer becomes the great capitalist, he 
has a passport of honor everywhere. The seat of 
rulership is open to his aspirations. How well-known 
are the achievements of these men ! — Hon. Henry 
Wilson the shoemaker seated in the United States 
Senate; Hon. William D. Kelley the enameller, risen 
to Attorney Generalship and Congressman ; Corneli- 
us Vanderbilt the ferryman, grown into the “Rail- 
road King;” Jay Cook the book-keeper, developed 
into America’s great Banker ; Horace Greeley the 
printer, revered as the father of the Tribune ; Wm. 
Lloyd Garrison the printer, honored as the anti-slavery 
champion ; Ezra Cornell the machinest, immortalized 
as the founder of Cornell University; Matthew Vassar 
the brewer, immortalized as the founder of Vassar 
College ; Andrew Johnson the tailor, exalted to the 
Chief Executive of the nation; Ulysses S. Grant, the 
tanner, the General-in-Chief of the Army and the 
illustrious President of the United States — these, and 
more of our American mechanics, have been crowned 
at home and abroad, with the most conspicuous 
honors. 

That the Saviour learned the trade of his father 
Joseph, may have been purely accidental — but trades 
handed down in families, from father to sons and to 
grandsons, is not altogether an evil. Young men 


148 The jpth Century Young Man . 

may as well inherit the mechanical tastes and skill 
of their fathers, as the peculiar physical contour and 
soul-temperament. A parent often builds up a 
great business by the inpress of his mechanical genius, 
and the son who has been in the school with his father, 
could hardly do better, than take up the honors of 
“ the house” and carry them yet higher. In Christ’s 
time there was not the same choice of trade as now — 
and it is one of the great prerogatives of the modern 
youth, that he can select the trade best suited to his 
talents and taste. 

Christ taught that a mechanic is the best of citizens. 
When the critical observers of His day saw the intel- 
ligence, wonder-works, and loyal-bearing of the hum- 
ble Galileean, they startled with the inquiry : “ Is not 
this the carpenter, the Son of Mary ?’ ’ The mechanic’s 
industry and creative-skill is at once a guarantee of a 
peaceful and contented citizen. Besides, where do 
the great inventors come from, who help the progress 
of labor and national prosperity so wonderfully ? If 
James Watt had not nursed his mechanical dexterity 
by manual-training, I doubt if ever he would have be- 
come the improver, and nearly creator of the steam, 
engine. Sir Isaac Newton laid the foundation of his 
greatness, when as a little boy he applied his saw, ham- 
mer, hatchet, and chisel to the building of a toy-wind- 


The Young Man at His Trade. 149 

mill. The applied motor-power in the use of the 
mouse to run his mill when the wind did not blow, 
and the ingenious water-clock, which, by winding, 
dropped water for twenty-four hours and propelled 
the wheel, were already the incipient elements of that 
philosophy and mathematics that worked out the 
wonder-theory of gravitation. From Noah down to 
Archimidese, and down to the mighty Corlisses of to- 
day, we have had many in the ranks of handicraft who 
rose to be literary-guides, statesmen and rulers. The 
biographies of self-made men are numerous, and they 
read with the zest of fiction. I love to think of the 
mechanic as a patriot. In Boston the carpenters de- 
fied starvation, and would not build the barracks for 
the British army. In Philadelphia they invited the 
Continental Congress to leave Smith’s tavern and 
make their sittings in the now historial Carpenter’s 
Hall. 

When Christ plied his tools at Nazareth, and fash- 
ioned material-buildings — He was already at fashion- 
ing some other kinds of structures. He was at build- 
ing the family-altar, the church-altar and the mercy- 
seat. When He left this earth He spoke as a builder- 
mechanic — “ In my Father’s house are many mansions 
— I go to prepare a place for you.” The higher me- 
chanics are not shown in the design of the fine palace, 


150 The igth Century Young Man. 

with its chiseled carvings, attractive adornments, and 
marvellous appliances — they are shown rather in the 
building-up of a Christian life. Here Christ is truly 
the master-builder. Under Him we lay the founda- 
tion, and raise the superstructure of character. Oh ! 
that the spirit of our dear Saviour might go with the 
workman to his bench ! Then whilst he builds an 
earthly house, he also would build a spiritual house. 

In Heaven the mechanical genius of man is purely 
contemplative. The mansions there are built — all 
completed. All of invention in machinery, and of 
appliances in power, and genius in iron, or wood, or 
stone are no more needed, God, who made the uni- 
verse to work in its myriads of laws, not to vary a 
hair-breadth, has also made Heaven to begin, where 
the genius of man has ended. There we lay aside our 
trade, and become the children of God. In Heaven 
the artificers will stand amazed — 

“ The hasty multitude 

Admiring enter’d ; and the work some praise, 

And some the architect : his hand was known 
In heaven by many a tower’d structure high, 

Where scepter’ d angels held their residence, 

And sat as princes.” 


Quit you like jnen — be strong ! — i Cor. 16 : 13. 

^rjj/XANLlNESS of character ! 

When David came to die, he gave his parting 
word to young Solomon : “Be thou strong therefore, 
and show thyself a man ! ” The history of this illus- 
trious son and king is well-known to you, — what a 
thrilling picture we might draw ! But we will set him 
aside, and discuss those elements of manliness which 
Solomon did not altogether have, but which every 
young man should have. 

Pope has said — “ Happiness is our being’s end 
and aim.” This saying grasps the problem of life, 
and with one master-stroke solves it. Originally all 
things were designed for man’s happiness. The ques- 
tion with him must ever be — “how can I make others 
and myself the happiest? ” 

The Epicurean philosophy makes pleasure or happi- 

er 


752 The 19th Century Young Man. 

ness the supremest good. “ Whilst we live, let us 
live,” is their creed. We reject the sensual idea upon 
which the ancient built that motto, and adopt it with- 
in Christian boundaries. To live whilst we live, we 
must be endowed with certain great elements, and 
attain to the highest condition of living. Life is the 
offspring of divinity, and its threshold seems adorned 
with a beauty let down from Heaven. Some, how- 
ever, pass through life as blind Nydia walked through 
Pompeii ; as the slave did, chained to the conqueror’s 
chariot ; as the reeling drunkard does, half in jest — half 
in earnest. The Christian philosopher throws the 
light of his soul upon all things — he draws lessons 
from every side. 

Young man, what do you think is the condition in 
which the highest satisfaction of life is attained ? Let 
me answer you — the highest test of true life lies in 
character. It lies not in any accident of social or 
family circumstance, it is not found in anything around 
you. Every man’s the centre of the world, and he draws 
darkness or sunshine about him. Manliness of char- 
acter is the highest achievement of human existence. 
In your youthful ardor, you may aim for many things 
— not for this ; for many things — at the risk of this. 

Pray, what is character? The sum of qualities 
which one possesses as over against another. In the 


The Manly Young Man. 


*53 


foundation of it, you must place the mental, moral, 
and spiritual quarry-stones. It is not what the phre- 
nologist is pleased to style it — “ the indices of char- 
acter,” as found in the colors of the eyes, and hair 
and skin. We are not speaking of peculiarities of tem- 
perament — but of moral qualities. We find one man, 
a shark, who like the vulture, lives on the misfortunes 
of others. We find another — the voluptuary, whose 
manhood is no higher than his stomach — a sort of a 
gastronomic machine. We find yet another — the 
shiftless fellow — who dissipates talents and opportuni- 
ties. We find also the silly-fellow — evaporating with 
softness and void of sterling sense. So we might enu- 
merate many who have eccentricities, idiosyncracies 
and idocrasies, but no manliness of character. 

There is a mistaken notion concerning character. 
It is not inherited, as an estate is. We find young 
men who stand on the pedestal of a distinguish- 
ed ancestry. I would not speak disparagingly of the 
pride a son may have of a noble father. But it is 
not safe to peer back too far along the line of one’s 
lineage. Some of the fastidious Four Hundred of 
New York might be loath to find a forefather a me- 
chanic, or farmer a wood-sawyer. Only the Nathan- 
ial Bowditsches could have the manly-grit to point 
to the scholarly achievement — the translation of the 


154 The igth Century Young Man. 

“ Meanique Cleste,” and say — my father was a cooper. 
Many of us, who are more than ordinary, might dis- 
cover some grand-parent to have been hangman 
Wealth has the tendency to throw a blinding tinsel 
over character. It is a grand spectacle to see a young 
man carve out a fortune. But. it is easier to acquire 
money than character. In the estimation of the better 
thinking world, there is one thing more valuable than 
property, or office, or station — it is character ! 

This word mariliness comes from the same root 
that virtue comes from. With the Romans it meant 
courage — heroism. The foundation of manliness 
is strength. Physical-strength is only so many 
pounds of beef, held together by the tension of so 
many cords of muscle. The ancients laid stress on 
the prowess of the outward-man, and the boat and 
foot-races are among the higher culture of colleges to- 
day. Strength and courage do not always unite in 
the physicial development of the giants. The Goli- 
aths are often the weakest in battle — they succumb 
before loss, and conscience, and sickness, and death. 
The strong mind is often not supplemented by feelings. 
So-called heroism is too frequently the spur of excite- 
ment. The source of strength is — God in man. It is 
different stuff that made the moral-heroes and the 
Christian-martyrs. Character-building is to be com 


The Manly Young Man. 


T 55 


templated like some ancient temple. Man is a temple 
for the indwelling of divinity. You may talk of that 
temple — its grace and symmetry and carved friezes 
and painted ceilings and sculptured niches and over- 
whelming grandeur — but you look for the pillars that 
hold up the structure. When you have done with 
contemplating the external graces of character, ask for 
the pillars and beams that compose this moral and in- 
tellectual structure. 

Heartiness. I conceive the first fiber in the make- 
up of a manly young man to be — heartiness. It is 
robustness of soul. Robustness implies to be made of 
oak. We would find compactness and toughness of 
intellectual, moral and spiritual fiber. We select 
some oak out of the forest, that looks healthy on the 
.outside, but in cutting into it, we are disappointed — 
it lacks heartiness. You imagine great things of man 
by outward promise, but you discover his heart un- 
sound. “ A sound mind in a sound body,” the say- 
ing goes. A diseased soul will disclose by the speech 
of the mouth, the offensiveness of life within. 

Who is nature’s nobleman ? It is he who carries 
his heart in his hand. These fibers of true heartiness 
may be defined. There is honesty of character. Give 
me the young man who has early learned to stand 
above false fashion, and the marbleized breeding of 


156 The 19th Century Young Man. 

demeanor — who is fearless to love and to hate. Who 
is deep like Lake George, and yet transparent to the 
pebbled bottom. There is simplicity of character. 
The broad common-sense of the world hates artificial- 
ity. It is one of the weaknesses of the upstart to in- 
dulge in pretense and make-believes. It is a mean 
thing to cover up one’s birth, only because humble, — 
and to hide one’s station in life, just because it may 
lack eclat. Be honest and plain John every time, 
rather than the sycophant. There is cordiality of 
character. Give me the young man who has warmth 
and liveliness of feeling, who glows with ardor in his 
profession, and has sincerity of purpose. I like to 
grasp his hand — it imparts mercurial spirits ; his very 
presence is invigorating. Let him be a spring-tree — 
full of sap and freshness. 

Self-Reliance / The second fibre in the make-up 
of the manly young man is — self-reliance. Trust thy- 
self! — let that be the opening sentence to every 
young life. Man has no duplicates — he is found but 
once in the world. Two mistakes are made by the 
young man — he is either too modest or too confident. 
The one will not move the world in any direction, 
the other will be impetuous enough to roll it over a 
precipice. 

Young man, be not timid or apologetic. Modesty 


The Manly Young Man . 157 

is the charm of the female. Will you not dare to say 
— “I think!” and will you every-time rush away to 
certify by the authority of others ? Self-reliance is 
the ingredient of manliness. Men of self-reliance and 
original methods have made history. The highest 
merit in Moses, Plato and Milton lies here, that they 
have set aside tradition, and have spoken what they 
thought. We often dismisss our own thoughts, just 
because they are our own. 

Be only yourself. Never imitate. The gift in you 
is of a life’s cumulative force — adopted talent is only 
half-possession, Shakespeare and Washington, and 
Bacon, and Franklin and Newton did not know any 
master, and they are great only in the one thing in 
which they differed from all the rest of the world. In 
the great acts of life we imitate none, we are ourselves 
only — we trust and hope in ourselves. We can’t 
always conform to the customs and ideas of our age — 
we must be willing, like Paul and Luther, to be mis- 
understood, if we would be useful and great. The 
young man must not lose faith in himself if he has 
failed in his first attempt — he must keep actively at 
stirring, doing something at least. He makes life 
count in the end. Emerson has described the great 
man : “ It is easy in the world to live after the world’s 
opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own ; 


158 The igth Century Young Man. 

but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd 
keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of soli- 
tude. ’ ’ 

Steadfastness ! The third fiber in the make-up of 
the manly young man is — steadfastness. The burlesque 
of human character is the man of many opinions. 
He is jack of all trades, and has to his credit a long 
catalogue of miscarriages. You never know when 
you have this man. If you chance to get him in 
hand, it is only a question of a little time, and he 
will have shifted aside again. Of him we must say, 
in the language of that man, who ran along the street 
pell-mell with a band-box in hand. “ Hold !” some 
cried after him — “what’s your hurry?” “ Don’t stop 
me!” he cried — “ I have a bonnet in the box here for 
my wife, and I am afraid it will be out of fashion be- 
fore I get home.” Yes, he stands on the cross road, 
confused with irresolution. He is a weather-vane, 
the creature of circumstance, and stands always in the 
direction the whims blow him. 

Give us men of Sir Roderick Dhu’s stripe — 

“ Come one, come all ! this rock shall fly, 

From its firm base, as soon as I ! ” 

We want men of aims and purposes in life, men 
who have the resolution and steadfastness to carry 
them out. Take a hundred college students — twelve 


The Manly Young Man. 159 

are a success in life. You see no difference in schol- 
arship or talent whilst within the folds of their alma- 
mater — they are abreast at graduation. At the end of 
the race of life, twelve have outstripped their fel- 
lows, and covered themselves with glory. The cause 
is this — the laggards lacked resolution, application 
and perseverance. Concentrate on one thing — and 
make that the business of your life. 

A firm conviction of truth ! This element of life 
has woven immortal crowns. It has made martyrs, 
and given to the Church a Paul, a Luther, a Wesley, 
a Knox. This is the power against the world. 

Aggressiveness ! The fourth fiber in the make-up of 
the manly young man is — aggressiveness. An army 
advancing upon the enemy is fighting in the line of 
aggression. To be a man, one must have the courage 
of aggressiveness. It must not, however, be the spirit 
of the pugnacious-boy, who is always ready to pum- 
mel the first lad who comes along. Make the first 
attack. The world must be reformed — have the moral 
courage of invasion. 

The turning-points of history were times of aggres- 
siveness. Savonarola, the fiery-monk, swept every- 
thing by his uncompromising eloquence. He even 
expelled the Medicii from Italy. It is an example 
of the courage of one’s convictions. Some there 


i6o The igth Century Young Man . 

be, who would rather sell out manhood than stand up 
for a just cause. This is the sphere of manly develop- 
ment. Circumstances and opportunities are not al- 
together needed to make great men — great men make 
circumstances and create opportunities. Resolute 
men are not swayed by obstacles or unforseen difficul- 
ties. These accidents might strike temerity into 
some — but they only infuse the resolute with greater 
energy. Action is necessary to the development of 
the man. By overcoming he acquires elasticity of 
spirits, and it helps to all success. The world is in 
Satan’s hand — go forth to conquer. The divine 
Master was aggressive. 

Power of Repose ! The fifth fiber in the make-up 
of the manly young man is — power of repose. Be 
calm, composed — ever in the patient attitude of wait- 
ing. The spirit of the world is impatient — now or 
never ! Man proposes by one bold stroke, by one 
grand speculative plunge, to make a fortune.. He af- 
fects to become a scholar, and anticipates intelligence 
through the most ordinary channels. Look at the 
go-ahead pressure of society. Why, the busy man 
has hardly time to eat and sleep. He takes so 
little time to live, that he scarcely lives at all. We 
are simply railroading it through life. 

A great force of character is to remain quiet and 


The Manly Young Man. 161 

submissive. Real strength is this — to restrain oneself 
in order to do or take, out of the assurance of some- 
thing greater beyond ; not to be precipitous in the 
disclosing to the world of any good ; to contain one- 
self in calm discipline. Let us marshal some of the 
historical characters. Columbus was tantalized, ne- 
glected, and repulsed by the minions of office — and 
he waited with prayerful reserve for ten years. Caper- 
nicus had ready the solution of the greatest problem 
of astronomy — his, “ Revolution of Celestial Orbs” — 
yet he reserved the publication of it until the world 
was ready to receive it. Galileo was imprisoned for 
his doctrine of the motion of the earth ; he externally 
submitted, kneeled before the inquisition, signed off, 
but whispered aside — “it moves nevertheless!” Kee- 
ley’s motor, has created a school of patience ; here is 
power of repose — and the world awaits the secret of per- 
petual motion. Christ was in a wailing attitude from 
the 1 2th to His 23d year. He was conscious of abil- 
ity to do — but He had the power of repose. Bunyan 
and Baxter waited. How in the bitter trials, and 
wicked aspersions of life, have souls been waiting for 
vindication ! We have heard of the patient repose of 
mothers — they prayed and waited. 

Power of Reserve ! The sixth fiber in the make-up 
of the manly young man, is — power of reserve. 


11 


1 62 The igth Century Young Man. 

This is keeping back strength. You see a horse on 
the race-track. He dashes along with graceful ease, 
and there is a restfulness in the grace of his motion. 
He is not spurred by the whip — you feel, that horse 
has much speed in reserve. The majestic eagle, in 
his easy sway of ponderous wings, indicates to us 
that he can soar yet higher. Two men lift a weight ; 
the one puffs, lifts and blows, the other just lifts and 
easily walks away — power of reserve. The orator 
raises his voice into full and rounded tones — but you 
feel that this Webster has much volume held in re- 
serve. 

O the manliness of such a power in oneself. It be- 
speaks depth and solidity of character. Some men 
disappoint you — they very soon are exhausted. You 
approach them with much expectation of what lies 
in reserve within them. But soon you discover their 
limitations. You plunge into them, expecting that 
they are an Atlantic, you find that they are a pond, 
with shallow waters and contracted shores. In look- 
ing around to find examples, demonstrating this ele- 
ment of character, I find Gowen among railroad 
magnates, Napoleon among generals, and Bismark 
among statesmen, to have had wonderful power of 
repose. 

Sacrifice ! The seventh fiber in the make-up of the 


The Manly Young Man. 


163 


manly young man, is — sacrifice. Because of the pre- 
valent evil of selfishness in the world, many Pestaloz- 
zes, with cynical sneer, pass the judgment : “ I learned 
that no man in God’s wide earth is either willing or 
able to help any other man.” It is. true, in a large 
measure of all of us — that we draw a line around us, 
and like the tortoise settle there, draw our heads into 
our own houses, and let the world about us take care 
of itself. With Sheridan we describe our feelings : 

“ I ne’er could any lustre see 

In eyes that would not look on me ; 

I ne’er saw nectar on a lip 

But where my own did hope to sip.” 

This idea of sacrifice means, to be lost for the sake 
of obtaining something. This self always wants to 
be present and foremost — it hands in its claims first. 
It can’t endure denial for the hour, in order to gain 
the prize of the future. It clamors for present grati- 
fication. 

Sacrifice implies a willingness to lose for the sake of 
others. Be not a narrow-minded, bigoted, selfish 
dwarf of humanity. Rather be large-hearted, public- 
spirited, benevolent, and philanthropic. Be a bene- 
factor of the race — a Howard and Wilberforce in all 
ranks. To be a great man, one must not live in the 
narrow circle of self— but must expand and become 


164 The 19th Century Young Man. 

enlarged. Paul divested himself of the hard shell 
of selfishness, clothed himself in the garb of purest 
motive — “For to me to live is Christ.” 

Now young man, take with me a retrospective 
glance. Let us gather up these seven fibers, and 
bind them into one — what a hearty, graceful roundure 
of manhood ! We care not for outward proportions, 
the man lies within. On the outside, only a bundle 
of clay — perhaps much clay, and little man ; or little 
clay, and much man. Clothe this man with the 
panoply of these seven elements of character ; set 
him out flat-footed on the earth, and then challenge 
the world, if you will, for a grander spectacle of ad- 
miration — he is the most magnificent handiwork of 
God ! All the world comes out to see such a man. 
Nor is the world niggardly. It brings its wreaths of 
congratulation and praise, and casts them at his feet, 
in honor of the Manliness of Character in that young 
man. 

“ He was a man, take him for all in all, 

I shall not look upon his like again.” 




Grace Lutheran Church, Reading, Pa. 







































































































































































































































































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